All The King's Coaches - Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace

I visit the Royal Mews, next to Buckingham Palace and examine King Charles III's fine collection of historic state coaches. Was it worth it? Find out here...
Dr. Mark Felton FRHistS, FRSA is a well-known British historian, the author of 22 non-fiction books, including bestsellers 'Zero Night' and 'Castle of the Eagles', both currently being developed into movies in Hollywood. In addition to writing, Mark also appears regularly in television documentaries around the world, including on The History Channel, Netflix, National Geographic, Quest, American Heroes Channel and RMC Decouverte. His books have formed the background to several TV and radio documentaries. More information about Mark can be found at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Fe...
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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.
Credits: Alansplodge; Katie Chan; robertsharp; John Pannell; Grahamedown; Ballista; Human45; nikoretro

[@thenoblepoptart]

damn, we’ve been mogged by royal mew coachmaxxing

[@SgtTraz]

markmaxxing

[@fazekevin9490]

Wtf, did i just read?😂

[@harridan.]

good one. have you seen Dr. Felton's episode on Larry, The #10 Downing Street Cat? it's priceless

[@rumhell]

Bye🤫🧏🏻‍♂️Bye🗿

[@Lerxstification]

In the USA, we have donkey douches riding in limos all around Washington DC, kind of a reverse situation of the donkey barouche.

[@herseem]

A horse-drawn coach looking like it's straight out of the 1700's... with electric windows and air conditioning??? Was not expecting that.

[@janantoni3604]

Pulled by mechanical horse.

[@exsubmariner]

So it's an electric coach I wonder if you could plug it in at Tesco s

[@herseem]

@@exsubmariner that would be a picture that would go round the world - a horse-drawn coach plugged into the recharging point

[@davidthefirst6195]

Is there a mini bar

[@michaelwalter3399]

But no cup holders.

[@malcolmrosborough7389]

Have met Jim who built the Australian State coach & the Diamond Jubilee State coach at his workshop in Sydney at Manly. He came from a farm at Forbes NSW & worked for the Queen with her horses where he developed his interest in the Royal Carriages

[@russwoodward8251]

It's heartening to see such beautiful coaches and well kept stables.

[@TheRealBatCave]

Who pays for it?

[@rare6499]

@@TheRealBatCavedrop in the ocean compared to the waste that goes on every single day by incompetent governments. At least this is history.

[@rubiconnn]

I think of what a colossal waste of money it is, just to rub it in to the citizens that they get to spend your money on pointlessly lavish garbage. For the price of one of those coaches they could lift hundreds of families out of poverty and the royal family probably wouldn't even notice one coach missing.

[@djquinn11]

Which one of them do they hitch Camilla up to?

[@gerardoborja3374]

The Tourists

[@GreatSageSunWukong]

I went in there in the 80s when I was a child on a free open day, it was great and I saw the queen in there apparently she said hello to all the horses and gave them treats several times a week. I don't recall any cars being in there then just lots of horses and coaches

[@kevinsoundmixer]

It's not just this specific content that we, Mark Felton subscribers enjoy and love, it's his format and presentation we adore and look forward to, every post. Thank you and keep up the good work as always, Mark!

[@kingbuckyduck5669]

My father worked here around the time is was born in the early 2000s and our family lived in one of the flats there. Truly extraordinary to get to live at such a place, hard to get tired of for sure.

[@stormykeep9213]

Beautiful coaches indeed! And I love the idea of them having a "modern coach," with power windows, AC and heat!

[@landonedwards7504]

Coachbuilding is an area of woodworking that's unique. Even on the simplest coaches, the amount of wood bending and complex joinery is mind boggling. On the finest examples, you're looking at true works of art. Efforts at weight reduction have been going on for centuries to avoid the need for more horsepower - literally! So in all respects, the coaches in this video represent unmatched achievements "fit for a king." Thank you, Dr. Felton, for sharing these images and their histories!

[@maverick4177]

I am fortunate to know one of the current Royal Chauffeurs, top chap 👍🏻

[@DaveSCameron]

Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, eh, know what I mean eh, Nudge,nudge…😂

[@stubstoo6331]

Who cares like Walt Disney with a chauffeur.

[@returnofthenative]

I say, what a feather in your cap old chap.

[@neilturner6749]

@@stubstoo6331well you might not care but please respect that millions do!

[@stubstoo6331]

@@neilturner6749 what millions?

[@snotgurgletroll1812]

I had visited London in 2000. I visited The Mews on the spur of the moment.....very happy I did!!!!

[@michaelmontagu3979]

The swaying of the Gold Coach has been somewhat rectified. It was found that the leather straps that are its suspension were different lengths.

[@olivere5497]

Heheheh. 'Length' Heheheh.

[@michaelmitchell6476]

You know your in for a good lesson and video when Doctor Felton uploads

[@kennethmacneil686]

Go to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh if you get the chance. The employees didn’t rush anyone, they politely answered questions, and it wasn't crammed to the gunwales with visitors. Pretty much the opposite of your visit to Buckingham Palace. This was 10 years ago though, hopefully its still the same and they haven't embraced the methods used down south.

[@feedingravens]

Reminds me of an experience with the bavarian king's "mews" in Nymphenburg Castle, Munich, that I had. I was there and looked into the open door (it is just one big room) and saw something strange and asked the guard about it. He was soooooo happy that anyone pays attention at all that he not only explained to me the white covers on the most of the mock-up horses are just to avoid the harnesses getting dusty, but I also got a personal guided tour through the collection. So I learned one of the coaches had been painted with a transparent red lacquer and then they had blown gold dust into the wet paint. Metallic paint of the most exquisite form... And he showed me the first electrically lit vehicle in Bavaria, maybe in the world - the sled of Prince Ludwig II from 1872. He was a pretty weird guy, loved to be alone, and in the winter nights he liked to be driven around in as sled in the forests. But he hated the stink of the petroleum lamps that he had on his sled, so he went to Wernher von Siemens, who was one of the german pioneers for electricity, and asked him to create an electric lighting. So this sled has a big battery box.

[@snuggles03]

I had absolutely no idea there was an Australian state coach, I’m very glad my country has contributed to a wonderful set of coaches.

[@aussiekat6379]

I was part of the making of the one for 1988 were I worked we made the small crowns that were placed on top of the coach. I have one the was scrapped because it has bubbles from pouring the metal so I use it a paper weight on my desk. lol 😊🇦🇺

[@snuggles03]

@@aussiekat6379 that’s absolutely fantastic

[@superjonboy873]

Your musings are always interesting, thanks for another great video!

[@DaveSCameron]

Musings…. I quite like the use of that but it seems to me that the remainder of your comment faded away rather rapidly…

[@jeff7.629]

Thank you Dr Felton for an interesting video on the royal coaches. I never realized there are so many and history behind them.

[@Soacwiththaface]

It's so strange 4 horsepower is well not a lot yet these coaches are still very impressive.

[@lordgarion514]

A horsepower is more than you think. I learned in high school automotive class that an 80s model Chevy van, only needed 35 horsepower to go down a level road at 55 mph.

[@danielstickney2400]

One horsepower is supposed to represent the amount of work a horse can maintain turning a mill for an entire day. They can produce a lot more power for shorter intervals.

[@Dan-dp5dz]

Fun fact: The average horse today produces about 17 horsepower.

[@lordgarion514]

@@Dan-dp5dz Fun fact: they made basically the same amount of power back in the "old days" as well. Horses have changed a lot less than how we measure a horsepower. Originally, a horsepower was the energy needed to lift 550 pounds one foot in one second. And they had to be able to keep that rate up all day. A modern horse can't remotely lift 9,350 pounds(550x17) one foot in one second AND maintain that rate for an entire day. So, a modern horse makes around 17 or about 1 horsepower, depending on how your measuring.

[@rob_1359]

Superb. British history and tradition is to be cherished. Thank you for posting 🇬🇧

[@emilkoch4098]

Excellent work with the content man!!! The craftsmanship that went into making those coaches is perfect, and stunning to say the least. The Gold State coach was my favorite. Truly a work of art.

[@bennygoodmanisgod]

Mark Felton? More like Mew Felton. He’s rizzing us all up with his historymaxxing fr

[@milliethedog2474]

My Grandfather, who served in the UN untill 1985, told me a few years ago that he actually sat in one of them. I remember him saying that it was the gold one so I think it might have been the Golden State Coach. He went on to say that the seats were very comfortable and soft, but his staff sergeant caught him and shouted at him and dismissed him but later came to him and bought my grandfather a pint at the pub.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I believe the first Lesney, Matchbox Toy was a miniature model of the Gold Coach made for the coronation of Queen Elizebeth in 1953.

[@gregoryz6545]

Thank you for all your work in making such wonderful videos Dr Felton!

[@adbp473]

I still return to Mark's previous video of his tour the Palace last year just to hear his hilarious narration. I do hope they (The Palace) made some serious improvements. I can only imagine the Royal staffs knees knocking as they see Mark strolling up to the entrance with his ticket in hand. 🙂

[@evelynzlon9492]

KZbin, or this channel specifically, does a shrewd job of deflecting hilarity. Today I learned that you actually CANNOT donate exactly 99 cents to a KZbin channel.

[@redbasher636]

@@evelynzlon9492 what

[@evelynzlon9492]

@@redbasher636 I am evil to the core.

[@juliansadler6263]

In 2002 I was Site Clerk on the Paddington Basin development. I turned up early one morning and saw the horses being exercised along Praed Street. By the grooms the troopers were too grand to be out at that hour,

[@Mike-gc2ro]

You never cease to amaze Dr. Felton! Great video!

[@metallicasnake]

Dr. Felton, your narration style makes all the royal details all the more interesting. Every video you've made on various royalty just shines with detail. Thank you so much.

[@thetorchyblameseries8100]

Wonderful video by Dr. Felton. I've visited the Royal Mews and only "saw" sparse number of the vehicles you present here. What a terribly fascinating stroll down these incredible storage of the Royal Coaches. Maybe you will make a video of QEII's favorite: The Queen's Garden. Thank you, Dr. Felton, for another brilliant way to spend time.

[@TroyDowVanZandt]

The giant gilded Baroque monstrosity seems to lack leaf springs, which no doubt makes its ride even more miserable. It'd be interesting to learn which coach first featured a more modern suspension. Also, it'd be interesting to learn when they transitioned from iron to rubber treads.

[@michaelmontagu3979]

It's slung from leather straps. It was only recently discovered that they were slightly different lengths, which was what caused it to swing badly when used. Corrected in time for the Coronation last year. The iron rims were changed for rubber tyres late in the 20th century.

[@emilynelson5985]

people had interesting ideas early on but materials limited production. The real state of the art for carriage suspension in the period is an American design made possible by the hide of the American Buffalo. The once abundant big game animal made available large skins that are easy to tan and readily capable of holding an actual ton of weight. Those high tolerance belts at also part of the reason why American mills rapidly outgrow English ones. With a lot of high strength leather northern mills and fabricators could propel the US Army to victory in the Civil war and in so doing the us economy would grow larger than that of the whole UK by 1870. By 1890 it was bigger than the whole Empire but you do get this last generation of really great carriages which will really influence the look and design of early automobiles.

[@gomezokpala7956]

Nice one Mark. I am always intrigued at the attention to details on these iconic royal pieces. I do believe that a lot of historical items and relics are truly timeless. Thanks again for your profound research abilities, and sharing your findings with us. You are sincerely appreciated, Mark.👍🏾

[@bf1905]

Thank you for sharing Dr. Felton!

[@arthuritis9443]

Mark, I share your admiration of donkeys…such a noble and utilitarian creature, with great character and symbolic history…what about a piece on their use in conflict..?

[@MarkFeltonProductions]

I did make a video about military mules - but alas hardly anyone watched it.

[@user-of1bd7wo1m]

fitzwilliam_darcy99 I have viewed much of your back catalog, Mr Felton, but do not recall having seen that video. Might you post a link here? I'd certainly like to watch it, and you can see that at least arthuritis9443 would like to see it as well. Might I go further and suggest that you edit the current video to add at the end a link to the "military donkey" video? Perhaps even edit the interior narration about the donkey barouche to refer to the link at the end. Your public isn't always hot for what interests you at the moment . . . but the time will come, and when it does, carpe diem!

[@michaelporzio7384]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKKrhGygjqmFfbc Dr. Felton's channel doesn't only celebrate the Upper Class horse but the heroic working class mule!

[@cheeseblog]

Thank you again Doctor Felton. I have been enjoying your content for quite some time!

[@apinakapina]

What a nice documentary. Never thought I'd be interested in coaches, but here we are!

[@user-yk4mj3lw3y]

Wow. Never knew about all these coaches. Beautiful. British craftsmanship at its best.

[@ericyoungstrom3634]

And Scottish, Irish, Australian, and Canadian. Most of them weren’t built in Great Britain.

[@gavinmurrell3415]

Not forgetting English​@@ericyoungstrom3634

[@marieravening927]

@@ericyoungstrom3634 I'm proud as an Australian that the two most recent additions were built in Australia. That we have retained such beautiful skills, even if we started out life as a penal colony.

[@mwrkhan]

@@ericyoungstrom3634 Scottish and Irish (N. Ireland) would fall under British.

[@jimpolk]

Fantastic as always Dr Felton. Really.

[@robertphillips6296]

Thank you for posting.

[@DrBLReid]

Thanks for this informative and very well done video! For someone from the States [Tennessee] the ride you gave was interesting and not too bumpy! Good show, Ole Chap!

[@robertrhodes8507]

This is really marvelous, especially the donkey-drawn carriage.

[@curtisdaniel9294]

Been there. You are correct as a Great Place to visit! 💙💙💙💙

[@mitchmatthews6713]

Excellent information again! Cheers, Mark!

[@noonehere1793]

Well that was a different piece of history for sure, thanks for the insight!👍👍

[@Hairnicks]

I really enjoyed that. Three years ago I visited the Royal Yatch in Edinburgh, will you ever be doing a video of that fascinating ship? I live in hope.

[@thomasgeddes4817]

A lighter topic today.😢 Done very well, interesting and topical. Possibly to counter all the doom and gloom either historical or present. Thums up this time Dr Felton. 👍

[@eliotreader8220]

a great review of the Royal Family's horse drawn coaches. Its amazing seeing the craftsmanship that went into building them. I have been lucy enough to have had a ride on a few horse drawn carriage rides at shows in France. at one event I rode up front with the driver. it was amazing see his skill at managing the two horses.

[@murphychris9811]

your video to the palace is one of my very fav videos of yours

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

Thank you very much for sharing, I appreciate it a LOT 👍 Greetings from the Netherlands 🇳🇱, TW.

[@magnificus8581]

Yes! Been waiting months for this to drop!

[@johnweddel687]

Yes, the Royal Mews is defininitely a must see. The gold state coach is quite impressive, indeed, but we never did figure out how they get it out of there for the royal occasions since there is no obvious exit large enough. Thank you for this excellent video and tour!

[@ingridarcher69]

Absolutely Loved your ‘Trip around The Palace’👌🤭🤣! The Royal Mews are certainly Special🤩❤️

[@bevinboulder5039]

Excellent Dr. Felton! I've visited London twice during my life but wasn't aware of the mews either time. My regret as I used to raise horses and am extremely interested in this subject. Thank you very much.

[@Droopybear]

Awesome thanks Dr Felton!

[@williamwhite2113]

Very interesting video, Dr. Felton. The Mews are a fascinating subject and seeing all of the coaches are great for us armchair travelers. Thanks for the information.

[@christyhart8254]

Thanks for doing this video!! Always educational and entertaining!!!

[@crakkbone8473]

Very cool! Thank you, Dr.

[@bobperrine6193]

A very interesting article. Thank you! .

[@sjwilloughby-greene8214]

Most interesting. Thank you for sharing. 🌿🌹♥️🌹🌿

[@tonyfussy5720]

I love how you mention that trip to Buckingham Palace last year and how much you hated it, or at least how disappointed you were 😉 Great video as always!

[@leafgreensniper13]

I love your scripts and style of writing Mark!

[@MyLateralThawts]

It’s been nearly ten years since I visited the Royal Mews. I wasn’t surprised to find out I had to go through security, but I was surprised to find out my Swiss Army locking blade was/is illegal in the UK. I made my case to the police sergeant on duty and allowed to keep the knife, provided I went straight to my hotel and locked it away with my luggage. Still have it. I also purchased some souvenir towels as a gift to my mother, which I told her I nicked from the Queen while I was waiting to talk to the sergeant. She thought I was serious and demanded I return the stolen items. Eventually, after a good laugh, I let her know they were legally obtained. She still uses them too.

[@davidlyon1899]

It's amazing how they train those horses to stand so still for hours like the life guards. They must be so tired and achy by the end of the day.

[@visorcover]

Mark could present the weather and it would be interesting!

[@anne-kristinrobertsson1561]

What a great video. Thank you.

[@jimtalbott9535]

1:10 - I LOVE that color the Royals use. Dignified and unique, but not “overdone”, or too garish.

[@fredfarnackle5455]

I can also recommend a visit, my wife and I saw them all, and the royal cars some years back.🇦🇺

[@ProfessorM-he9rl]

Good post, thank you.

[@zoso73]

A faithful viewer I am. Thank you!

[@johnsmith-jq1uc]

same, i too

[@DaveSCameron]

Oh I’m not quite there yet but I’ll confess to catching most of Marks uploads, are you thinking of creating a Felton Fans League?

[@thepharaohnerd7235]

I love your work Dr. Felton!

[@SgtTraz]

The donkey carriage is epic

[@janwhite6038]

My great grandad was the Postilion at Victoria's Golden Jubilee. Loved this video. Thank you

[@neilturner6749]

That’s cool family history. TBH I had to google postillion to be sure it was what was I thought it was!

[@StevenKeery]

JanWhite: That's a word we don't hear very often. I think the late actor Dirk Bogarde wrote a book called, 'A Postilian struck by Lightning.' It sounds strange even now.

[@janwhite6038]

The video of the golden jubillee is on KZbin. My great father was unemployed and saw a day old newspaper dumped in the street, he was a first generation son of Belgium immigrants, there was an ad for a servant at Buckingham Palace and he walked from Hampshire to London to apply. The job was gone but they were so impressed with his determination they offered him a stable boys job, he worked his way up!

[@JoseyNUOA]

Dr. Felton can mew in a different way too 🤫🧏🏼‍♀️

[@bennygoodmanisgod]

Glad to see these comments. I honestly thought only old people followed him. This is a sigh of relief 😅

[@kevinbautsch]

God Bless England. Also, love Mark Felton videos.

[@nickymaz05]

Outstanding.

[@keithdurose7057]

A great video. One coach has the fern of India, the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, and the shamrock from Ireland. Could the roof be from Wales, because it leeks? Lol.

[@ahhamartin]

I have pictures my grandfather (who was in the U.S, Navy) took of the gold coach. He was at the Coronation in 1937 and used to talk about it on occasion. Crazy as it sounds, he insisted he met sailors representing the GERMAN navy during the ceremonies.(He also had pictures of the windmill at the Moulin Rouge but for some reason never, ever talked about that...)

[@rare6499]

Great video thank you Mark!

[@fordfairlane662dr]

Awesome video..never knew there were so many coaches!

[@CRs304dp]

👏 🥰 thank you for sharing

[@jarredsdad]

Good one. Thank you.

[@timbit72]

As a car guy i enjoy discovering the origin of modern terms used to indicate the trim level of a certain model of car like landau or brougham, pretty cool...you might remember hearing about "body by fisher" in car specs, camaro had one as did many others, fisher was originally a carriage manufacturer...so many carryovers from carriages to cars id be curious what others come up with in the comments...Im with you on the donkey barouche Mark & greetings from canada

[@juliekemp419]

Lovely to see them all. Very proud to be Australian re 'our' magnificent example.

[@brucelowe3391]

Impressive, thank you.

[@haraldputensen7955]

Danke!

[@wendymcdintohistory]

This was fun and very interesting ❤

[@iman48]

Been there and enjoyed it very much

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an awesome introduction

[@uncleron9481]

Well Done !!!

[@BrianMurfitt]

I visited the mews and Buckingham Palace, it was expensive but a great day out, on the 29 August 2022, that was just ten days before Queen Elizabeth II passed away.😢

[@calthepeacelovingclover5935]

Very informative Mark, perhaps a video on the various modes of transport used by the Pope? Seeing as you made a video about being in Rome after the Buckingham Palace one.

[@sopwithsnoopy8779]

There is a royal vehicle in a museum near where I live, in the U.S. at the Gilmore museum. I cant remember if its a RR or Bentley. It was used during one of the Queen's visits to the U.S. and still has the royal crests on it, etc.

[@Luxnutz1]

My Dad worked on King George vi's Lanchesters. I was told that the cars were similar to Jaguars just less sporty. I hope you do a story on the Daimlers, Rolls and other Marques that they own. Maybe even the MGC GT that QE2 bought for King Charles when he came of age.

[@kenmccormick8059]

Mark Felton has a video from just over a year ago called 'Queen Elizabeth II's private car collection'.

[@TheOldSalt]

The oldest coach in service is the Speaker’s Coach, or as I call it, King William’s Coach. It was designed for William of Orange in 1698, but Queen Anne disliked it so she gave it to Parliament, who gave it to the Speaker of the House of Commons. It’s been used at almost every coronation since.

[@snelled]

Thank you Doctor, since you are on the subject, I hope you can explane what happened in the streets of London 24/04/2024.

[@aaronjones8905]

I love the tradition of these coaches!

[@johnrae4633]

A wee spelling correction needed, it's the Stone of 'Scone', not 'Scoon' which is named after Scone Palace, which overlooks Perth, in Scotland, not to be confused with what you can buy at the Bakers and eat with afternoon tea!

[@robinbrowne5419]

Very nice coaches indeed👍 I think my favourite is the landau at 1:52 because it is convertible.

[@wendysargent3855]

The Queen Vic coach is amazing ❤❤❤

[@babuzzard6470]

Great video Mark, we make some nice stuff here in Australia.👍🇦🇺