Diamond Jubilee State Coach

The carriage was built in Australia by coachbuilder W. J. Frecklington,{{cite journal|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/no-missing-this-royal-coach-on-google/story-e6freuzi-1226063745553 |title=No missing this Royal coach on Google |journal=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |first=Henry |last=Budd |date=27 May 2011 |accessdate=2013-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005135626/http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-news/no-missing-this-royal-coach-on-google/story-e6freuzi-1226063745553 |archive-date=October 5, 2012}} who previously built the Australian State Coach, in 1988. Although completed in 2010, the coach did not arrive in London until March 2014 due to issues with funding. Buckingham Palace stated that Frecklington had completed the coach of his own initiative and that it was not an official state coach, although Frecklington stated that the coach was endorsed (but not commissioned) by Buckingham Palace.{{r|rose}} Frecklington funded the construction of the coach as a private initiative with some help from the Australian government in form of a $250,000 (£138,000) grant and a mortgage on his house to fund the $5M (£2.7m) project.{{r|timeless}} The coach was subsequently purchased by the Royal Collection Trust for an undisclosed sum, becoming part of the Royal Collection.{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Rowley |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10873294/Queens-Speech-a-timeless-new-coach-only-eight-years-too-late.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140604080030/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/10873294/Queens-Speech-a-timeless-new-coach-only-eight-years-too-late.html |archive-date=4 June 2014 |title=Queen's Speech: a timeless new coach, only eight years too late |publisher=The Daily Telegraph |date=4 June 2014}}

Frecklington's intention was to create a coach that would encapsulate the history and heritage of the United Kingdom by incorporating material from Britain's historic buildings, ships and other artefacts. The Diamond Jubilee State Coach is therefore an especially wide-ranging representation of the great events, figures and objects of British history ever assembled, items directly related to more than 30 kings and queens of England, Scotland and Ireland, the most influential characters in British history, her greatest victories, her most treasured places, and her greatest contributions to the world.{{cite web |first=Jim |last=Frecklington |url=http://royalcoach.downau.com/britannia/g6.htm |website=The State Coach Britannia |title=A time capsule of British history |publisher=WJ Frecklington |accessdate=2013-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218001222/http://royalcoach.downau.com/britannia/g6.htm |archive-date=18 December 2012 |url-status=dead }}

File:Jubilee State Coach (52876904871).jpg horses and guided by postilion riders dressed in state livery.]]

• The coach weighs 2.75 tons and is {{convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|long}} and {{convert|11|ft|m|abbr=on|adj=mid|high}}.{{r|rose}}
• The coach has electric windows, heating, air conditioning, and 6 hydraulic stabilisers. The body is essentially made of aluminium.{{r|rose|gildedvanity}}{{Cite news |date=2023-04-09 |title=Coronation coach has electric windows and air con |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-65194594 |access-date=2023-04-10 |first=Sean |last=Coughlan}}
• The crown atop the roof is carved from timber from Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory.{{r|contribs}}
• Timber segments from The Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St Paul's Cathedral, Edinburgh Castle, Henry VIII's flagship Mary Rose, Mayflower, Balmoral Castle, Blenheim Palace, Caernarfon Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Carlisle Cathedral, Chichester Cathedral, Durham Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, Hampton Court Palace, Holyrood Palace, Kensington Palace, Lincoln Cathedral, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, Osborne House, Salisbury Cathedral, St George's Chapel, Stirling Castle, The Palace of Westminster, the Royal Pavilion, the White House at Kew, Wells Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral, Winchester Cathedral, Windsor Castle, York Minster and others are inlaid into the interior lining of the coach.{{r|timecapsule|contribs}}
• Also included is material donated by the Scottish Government from the Stone of Scone, wood from the Ferriby Boats (~1800BC), a segment of material donated by the Canadian Government from the Franklin expedition 1845 and others from the former Royal Yacht HMY Britannia, HMS Endeavour, The Battle of Hastings, RMS Queen Mary, RMS Olympic, SS Great Britain, RSS Discovery, an original counterweight from Big Ben, a Battle of Britain Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane, a Dambusters Lancaster, and part of a musketball from the Battle of Waterloo.{{r|timecapsule}}
• Segments related to Shakespeare, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Edward Jenner, John Harrison, Joseph Banks, Florence Nightingale and other famous figures are also included as well as digital copies of Magna Carta and Domesday Book.{{r|timecapsule}}
• The two door handles, made by a New Zealand jeweller, are each decorated with 24 diamonds and 130 sapphires.{{r|gildedvanity}}
• The lamps were handmade by Edinburgh Crystal.{{r|coachlamps}}

Jean-Louis Libourel, a French historian and expert on horse-drawn vehicles, wrote how the Diamond Jubilee State Coach is a copy of the Australian State Coach, which is itself a copy of the Irish State Coach. Libourel called the Diamond Jubilee a "clumsy pastiche" of extraordinary expenditure without any novel artistry. He criticized the lack of lightness and elegance, the heavy undercarriage accentuated by over-gilding, the modern conveniences, and the corporate-style interior devoid of royal splendor.{{r|gildedvanity}}

• List of state coaches
• State Opening of Parliament
• Royal Mews

{{Reflist|refs=

{{Cite web |title=Coach Lamps |url=http://www.downau.com/britannia/g4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215222909/http://www.downau.com/britannia/g4.htm |archive-date=15 February 2011 |website=The State Coach Britannia}}

{{Cite web |title=Acknowledgement |url=http://www.downau.com/britannia/Britannia_historical_items_list.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110215222853/http://www.downau.com/britannia/Britannia_historical_items_list.htm |archive-date=15 February 2011 |website=The State Coach Britannia}}

{{Cite web |title=La berline royale Diamond Jubilee StateCoach : "une mesquinerie dorée" |language=fr |trans-title=The royal sedan Diamond Jubilee State Coach : "a gilded vanity" |url=https://www.attelage-patrimoine.com/2023/05/la-berline-royale-diamond-jubilee-statecoach-une-mesquinerie-doree.html |date=2023-06-01 |first=Jean Louis |last=Libourel |website=attelage-patrimoine.com (Heritage Hitch)}}

{{cite journal |url=http://www.downau.com/publications/articles/StateCoach_CarriageDriving.pdf |first=Rose |last=Peterson |title=Regal Splendour Rules in the New State Coach Britannia |date=May 2009 |journal=Carriage Driving |access-date=8 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101226053301/http://www.downau.com/publications/articles/StateCoach_CarriageDriving.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2010 |url-status=dead}}

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{{commons category}}

• [https://www.rct.uk/visit/the-royal-mews-buckingham-palace/highlights-of-the-royal-mews#/#diamondjubileestatecoach The Royal Collection Trust: The Diamond Jubilee State Coach] – Official page
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110214122617/http://www.downau.com/britannia/ The State Coach Britannia at downau.com] (with images)
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DRYzlsf3X4 Video view of the Diamond Jubilee Coach in motion on 4 June 2014]

{{Royal state coaches of the British monarch}}

{{Jubilees of British monarchs}}

{{Elizabeth II|Diamond Jubilee}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Royal carriages

Category:Vehicles of the United Kingdom

Category:2010 works

Category:Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II

Category:Coaches (carriage)

Category:Coronation of Charles III and Camilla