For raw symbolism this Jubilee weekend, it will be hard to beat the gold State Coach.
This notoriously uncomfortable vehicle will be the ceremonial centrepiece of the climax of the Jubilee weekend – the pageant that will travel the coronation route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace on Sunday.
Weighing in at four tons, ornately carved and luxuriously gilded, the 250-year-old coach is a reminder of long-passed riches and glory, of Britain’s one-time dominance of oceans and continents.
The Queen rode in it to her wedding and to her coronation, to dozens of state openings of Parliament, and in her Silver and Golden Jubilee processions. But this Jubilee it will be empty.
Drawn by eight Windsor Grey horses, the only reason to gawk at it will be its magnificent carvings, and the newsreel footage of the coronation that will be projected onto its windows.