FACT
SHEET
The Royal Mews
The Royal Mews is a fully operational branch of the Royal Household, providing road
transport for The Queen and other members of the Royal Family by horse-drawn carriage
and motor car. It is also one of the finest working stables still in existence, responsible for
the training of the Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays, the horses that pull the royal
carriages.
The Royal Mews is home to the state vehicles and carriages used for coronations, jubilees,
state visits, royal weddings, the State Opening of Parliament and The Queen’s Birthday
Parade. The most dazzling of all carriages housed in the Royal Mews is the Gold State Coach,
which has been used at every coronation since that of George IV in 1821 and will play a
central role in The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
How history shaped the Royal Mews
The Royal Mews was built in the gardens of Buckingham Palace between 1822 and 1825. It
evolved from The King’s Mews, an institution which goes as far back as the reign of Richard II
(r.1377-99). The Mews was originally located at Charing Cross, on the site of the present
National Gallery – the royal hawks were kept at this site from 1377, and the name ‘mews’
derives from the fact that they were confined there at moulting (or ‘mew’) time. The building
was destroyed by fire in 1534 and rebuilt as stables, keeping the name ‘mews’.
In the 1760s George III (r.1760-1820) moved some of his day-to-day horses and carriages to
the grounds of Buckingham House, which he had acquired in 1762 for his wife’s use, but the
main royal stables housing the ceremonial coaches and their horses remained at The King’s
Mews. It was not until the reign of George IV (r.1820-30) that the stables transferred to
what was now known as Buckingham Palace. The King commissioned the mews from the
architect John Nash,
Nash who was already in charge of redesigning the Palace for him. Nash built
around the existing riding school, constructed in the 1760s, and designed a Doric-style arch,
surmounted by a clock tower, leading into the quadrangle of the mews, as well as the main
coach houses and two sets of state stables with room for 54 horses.
The Royal Mews became a much more active place during the reign of Queen Victoria,
Victoria who
had as many as 200 horses there at one time. In 1855 the Queen established a school in the
mews for the education of the children of families working there, which flourished for more
than 20 years. In 1859 new accommodation was built for the 198 members of staff and their
families.
Press Office, Royal
Royal Collection Trust, York House, St James’s Palace, London, SW1A 1BQ
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