Regal Carriages and Royal Marriages
By Richard Hooper
Any visitor to the Royal Mews adjacent to Buckingham Palace has surely marveled at the historical significance and majesty of the carriages on display. Their magnificence is undeniable.
The last carriage commissioned by the Royal Family is the State Postillion Landau. Built in 1902 by Hoopers, it was an oversized design to accommodate King Edward VII and is the most used of the Royal Carriages. It’s seen at the races, transported Prince Charles to his wedding at Westminster Abby in 1981 and carried him and Princess Diana after the ceremony.
Diana traveled to the wedding in the Glass Coach. Built in 1881, it’s a carriage that’s been much used by royal brides, conveying Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Princess Alexandra, Princess Anne and Sarah Ferguson to their weddings. In 1947, it carried Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh from theirs. All were short, romantic rides, driven over paved roads.
In 1988, Australia gave Queen Elizabeth II an elegant coach with an ornately carved, gilt roof. Known as the Australian State Coach, it resembles designs from the 1800s. However, it has its own generator for electrically operated windows and heating, amenities unknown to prior generations.
The most opulent carriage is the Gold State Coach. Commissioned by George III, it was completed in 1762. Except for painted scenes around the sides, it’s covered in gilt carving, down to the wheels, hubs and spokes. At 24 feet long and 13 feet high, it weighs nearly four tons and requires eight horses to pull it along. It’s resplendent and, in common with the other carriages, conjures up images and fantasies of romance and royal privilege. But it’s a beast. William IV described riding in it as being tossed about in a high sea, and George IV thought it the most uncomfortable ride of his life.
As to romance and carriages, that also has another side. In 1721, Philippe d’Orleans, Regent of France, hatched a scheme to wed the eleven-year-old Louis XV to four-year-old Mariana Victoria, Infanta of Spain. To further enhance the arrangement, he offered his twelve-year-old daughter, Louise Elisabeth, in marriage to Luis of Asturias, age fifteen and heir to the Spanish throne.
An agreement was reached and the princesses were to be swapped on the Isle of Pheasants in the Bidasoa River on the border of France and Spain. In late No
vember, each entourage set off toward the island, the princesses and major attendants traveling in carriages.
Both processions commenced the roughly 800-mile journey with pomp and pageantry. This slowed the trek from Madrid to about nine miles a day for the first two weeks. The cortege from Paris, having a longer distance to the swap meet, had to move a bit faster and could not be slowed, even when Louise Elisabeth became ill (both physically and in temper).
Roads became mud, axles broke and wheels became mired in the muck. With each incident the entire grand entourage would come to a standstill. Sleet or rain might be pouring and those tasked with getting the carriages moving again were in peril of being crushed (which did happen) under its wheels. Bandits infiltrated the French procession and made off with silver plate and trunks of lavish gifts intended for the King and Queen of Spain.
The roads from Madrid offered their own challenges, as well, and at the Pyrenees they became non-existent. The Infanta was carried in a sedan chair over the snow covered paths, her attendants pulled in litters and carriages dismantled as much as possible and carried by men and donkeys.
The exchange took place on Jan. 9, 1722, in a pavilion built on the island and decorated for the occasion. Furniture was especially made by the finest craftsmen and brought in from Versailles. Floating bridges were constructed across the swollen river on which the princesses crossed simultaneously.
The still sickly Louise Elisabeth wanted no part of it. The Infanta beamed with delight until her mood suddenly changed to rage. She threw herself on the carpet and demanded that her nanny be allowed to accompany her to France.
The Infanta won. The exchange completed, Louise Elizabeth entered the carriage to Madrid. The Infanta entered the carriage to Paris. They departed with all the bad weather, mud and snow to be endured all over again.
On Feb. 20, the French Princess entered Madrid. On March 1, more than four months after leaving Madrid, the Infanta arrived in Paris.
Richard Hooper is an antiquarian book expert in Middleburg. He is also the creator of Chateaux de la Pooch, elegantly appointed furniture for dogs and home. He can be contacted at [email protected].