To be honest, we didn't really know what to expect from this. What we discovered upon entering was a large enclosed courtyard with garage-like storage areas along the ground floor, and flats above them on most sides. We discovered that the people who worked at the mews also live there, which makes complete sense.
We started our tour by collecting a headset with attached touch-screen device that would talk us through each exhibit as we went. It is a fantastic idea and worked very well - it included audio descriptions, talks from employees who look after that particular thing, videos of various things in action, etc. It made the tour much more interesting and easy to follow - you simply selected the thing you were looking at from the menu, and it brought up a number of audio and visuals to choose from. It also meant that the whole tour was relatively quite - everyone was listening to their tour (including the children, who had their own specially designed tour to listen to) and mostly talking in hushed voices. As the experience was self-paced, you could take as long as you liked looking at each thing (the same was true for the State Rooms), and re-listen/watch information if you wished.
The start of the tour focused on the coaches. Each has it's own garage (for lack of a better word), and also has a team of people who work on them when needed. Each year the teams choose one big 'project', where they do a complete restoration of a coach they know will not be in use for 12-18 months (that's how long a complete restoration takes). This process can include stripping down the and reapplying the 20-odd extremely thing layers of paint, fixing the electronics in the more recent models and perhaps installing some in the older models, mending the upholstery, etc. The painting is all done by hand, including all of the intricate details, and is a job completed by very specific people who have followed in their family footsteps to inherit the position.
Each coach has an incredible history, as is appropriate for such incredible items. Each is used for specific purposes which have generally been the same throughout their lifetime. For example the Scottish State Coach is mainly used when the Queen visits Scotland.
The Irish State Coach
My favourite coach was the Diamond Jubilee State Coach; made by Australian W. J. Frecklington and completed in 2010. As the newest coach in the royal collection, it has hydraulic suspension, heating, electric windows, a small camera in the crown on the roof for filming the crowds, and the ability to have either electric lights or candles in the lamps. The wheels were designed by a performance race-car company (not specified), and it contains over 100 items from a 'Thousand Years of British History' have been incorporated into the structure and design. This is a fantastic article detailing some of the pieces if you are interested.
The Diamond Jubilee State Coach
The Glass Coach
The Scottish State Coach
Amongst the glorious coaches was a single car. It is one of only 18 of this particular model in the entire world, and even then is has been customised further. This car is the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, and it is beautiful. It was repainted from the original deep green to claret (deep, dark red) and black when it became an official state car in 1952. The design of the body allows the Queen to stand upright before stepping out, and the mascot can be changed to show whether she is riding in the car or not. To the right in the picture below you can see the driver's attire.
The last coach to view is kept inside it's own great room, separate from all the others. It is, of course, the Gold State Coach, completed in 1762. By far the most luxurious and showy coach of all, this beauty has been involved in every coronation since George IV in 1821. The entire carriage is covered in gold , and the sides feature painted panels by Giovanni Cipriani. Guarding each corner of the coach is a triton, there to represent the imperial power of the Monarchy, and gracing the roof are three cherubs representing England, Ireland and Scotland. There is not one single section of the body that isn't delicately carved and/or decorated in some specific, meaningful way.
After spending quite a bit of time admiring the Gold State Coach we moved into the sables. The majority of the horses were taken elsewhere for the duration of the house opening, and instead the stalls contained very small carriages. Most were designed to be used by children, and some were specifically designed to be pulled by donkeys or mules. It was fascinating to see their simplicity after the grandeur of the larger coaches.
The stalls themselves had the names of each horse displayed on a plaque, and each name was chosen by the Queen herself, often based on places she had recently visited. We were also able to view some of the tack, and listen to a stable-hand describe her pride in maintaining all of the horse equipment to the highest of standards, particularly for official engagements when the horses (and therefore their tack) are on display.
After handing in our audio equipment we were able to enter a small stable where a few of the horses who had remained behind were currently staying. The only horses used by the Royal family are Cleveland Bays (a deep, rich chocolate) and Windsor Greys (a beautiful speckled grey), and they must all be at least 16.1 hands heigh (1.65m) with a steady temperament and good stamina for pulling the coaches and carriages. We saw two of each kind, and were struck by how incredibly healthy the look, as well as how incredibly tall they were. The tallest we saw was a Windsor Grey named Storm, who would have been almost my height at the top of its shoulders.
We ended up only being there for less than an hour, but we saw and learnt so much. It is incredible to think so many people are involved in something so common as transportation, but it is also completely understandable when you realise how much is actually involved (it can take months of preparation for a single state visit involving one of the coaches, and the horses undergo very specific training and handling for their various roles). Many families have been part of the Royal Mews for generations, and it is clear to see the love and pride they all take in their daily work.
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