The Gold State Coach is to lead the Platinum Jubilee Pageant procession, evoking the image of a young Queen waving from in its windows on her Coronation Day using archive footage. Film recorded on June 2, 1953, as the monarch travelled in the coach on the day she was crowned will be shown using advanced technology on the remodelled windows of the opulent 18th century carriage on the final day of the festivities in June.
It will be the first time the intricately-decorated 260-year-old Gold State Coach, which was built in 1762, has made an appearance on the streets of London for 20 years, since the Golden Jubilee. Made of giltwood, a thin layer of gold leaf over wood, it is seven metres long, weighs four tonnes and is 3.6 metres tall, and because of its weight and suspension is only ever used at a walking pace.
Drawn by eight Windsor Grey horses, the grand carriage, led by the Mounted Band of the Household Cavalry, will begin the spectacular carnival Pageant finale on Sunday June 5 as the procession makes it way along a 3km route. The bells of Westminster Abbey will peel just as they did on Coronation Day.
