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The Speaker's State Coach is the oldest of the three great State Coaches of the United Kingdom. Like the Gold State Coach and the Lord Mayor of London's State Coach it is elaborately carved and gilded, and is decorated with allegorical paintings by G. B. Cipriani (see below for details).
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The coach was originally designed for King William III in 1698 by Daniel Marot. William's successor Queen Anne then passed it on to the Speaker of the House of Commons, in whose charge it remains to this day.
It is seldom seen in action except at Coronations, when the Speaker customarily uses it for the short journey from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey before the service, and then in the carriage procession following the service.
Use in the 20th century
The coach was used on the following occasions in the last century:
The Coronation of Edward VII The Coronation of George V The Silver Jubilee of George V The Coronation of George VI The Coronation of Elizabeth II The Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana SpencerOn State occasions such as these, the Speaker is accompanied in the coach by his usual retinue of Secretary, Chaplain and Serjeant-at-Arms, together with the House of Commons Mace, which is positioned so as to be clearly visible from outside. The Speaker's Train-bearer is also accommodated, on a stool in the centre.
A Coachman and two Footmen are employed, in distinctive livery, and the Speaker has the special privilege of being escorted by a single Household Cavalryman, who rides alongside the carriage. Since the Speakership of Mr Shaw-Lefevre the coach has always been pulled by a pair of Whitbread Shire horses (Shaw-Lefevre having been a partner in Messrs Whitbread & Co.).
When not in use, the Speaker's State Coach used to be kept on display at Whitbread's Brewery in Chiswell Street, London EC1. When Whitbread's sold the building, they relinquished their custody of the coach; since then it has occasionally been displayed in Westminster Hall.
On 4 March 2011, Speaker Bercow announced that the coach would go on display at the National Trust’s Arlington Court Carriage Museum in Devon.