The Queen chose a covered carriage to take her to Trooping the Colour this year. Elizabeth II made the short journey from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards’ Parade in central London in the Scottish State Coach.
The enclosed carriage was chosen as a precaution against the weather which had started off windy and wet although the sun had come out by the time the Royal Family left for the traditional ceremony which marks the Queen’s official birthday.
The Queen travelled alone to Trooping the Colour. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of York and the Princess Royal rode on horseback behind her. In the carriage procession ahead of the Monarch’s carriage were the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Princess Beatrice of York, Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, James, Viscount Severn and the Duke of Kent.
The Scottish State Coach was made in 1830 for Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and was regularly used by his family. It was sold to William Keppel, Earl of Albermarle who is a great, great grandfather of the Duchess of Cornwall. However, the carriage had made its way back into royal circles before Camilla’s marriage to Charles as the Keppels gave it to Queen Mary as a present. The Queen had it remodelled and it was used 42 years ago this month by the Queen Mother to travel to celebrations for Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee. The Scottish State Coach also carried the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011. Most recently, it was used by Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank for the procession that took place after their wedding at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor in October 2018.
The Royal Family will late appear together on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for the flypast following Trooping the Colour.
