Irish State Coach Irish State Coach The Irish State Coach is an enclosed, four-horse-drawn carriage used by the British Royal Family. It is the traditional horse-drawn coach in which the British monarch travels from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster to formally open the new legislative session of the UK Parliament. The original Irish State Coach was built as a speculative venture in 1851 by John Hutton & Sons of Dublin, who held a Royal Warrant as coachbuilders to Queen Victoria. Exhibited at the 1853 Great Industrial Exhibition, it was admired by the Queen, purchased and delivered to the Royal Mews. From
Christiansborg Palace (2nd) premises for entertainment. The palace also housed the Parliament and administrative services. Frederik VII was the only monarch to live in the palace. This was between 1852 and 1863. After the fire in 1794, the royal family initially took up temporary residency at Rosenborg Castle and later moved to Amalienborg Palace. Christian Frederik Hansen, until then master builder in Altona, was called upon to resurrect the palace. Construction started in 1803 but was slow as a result of the difficult times compounded by the Napoleonic Wars and the national bankruptcy in 1813. By the time the palace was completed, King