Coronation – Speaker welcomes his coach back to Westminster

The Speaker has his own coach, used since the 17th century for occasions when pomp and ceremony are required.

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, has welcomed the gilded coach back to the Palace of Westminster.

He said: “‘I am very excited that members of the public will have the opportunity to see the Speaker’s State Coach, which was used in so many historic state events, including the Coronations of Her Late Majesty, her father and grandfather.”

The Speaker’s State Coach was last used in 1981 to take the Speaker George Thomas from the House of Commons to St Paul’s for the wedding of King Charles to his first wife, Lady Diana Spencer. Since then it has been on display in a variety of locations. Most recently the coach was sent on loan to the National Trust’s Carriage Museum at Arlington Court near Barnstaple in Devon.

The coach is now formally retired and has been preserved for future generations. It was restored in 2006-08 when a significant amount of work was required to return it to its original condition.