Australian State Coach

The Australian State Coach is an enclosed, six horse-drawn carriage used by the British Royal Family. The coach was presented to Queen Elizabeth II of Australia and the United Kingdom as the official gift on the occasion of the Australian Bicentennial on 8 May 1988, and first used in November of that year at the State Opening of Parliament. The coach was a gift from the Australian people and was designed and built by the coach builder W. J. Frecklington who subsequently built the Diamond Jubilee State Coach for Queen Elizabeth II as a private initiative. The Australian State Coach is sometimes used at the British State Opening of Parliament and other state occasions involving the Australian or foreign royal families, such as the visit of Queen Margrethe of Denmark in 2000. As one of the most modern of the royal carriages, the coach is fitted with electric windows, heating and hydraulic stabilisers; it is therefore regularly used for such occasions. The Australian State Coach is usually kept at the Royal Mews, where it can be viewed by the public.

The Australian State Coach was used to convey the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Mr & Mrs Middleton from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace following the wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011.

On 5 June 2012, the Australian State Coach was to be an alternative coach for the carriage procession back from Westminster Hall to Buckingham Palace for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, in case of rain. However the it was decided that the weather was fit enough for the open-top 1902 carriage to be used to carry the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

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