The Gold State Coach is an enclosed, eight-horse-drawn carriage used by the British royal family. Commissioned in 1760 by Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, for King George III, and designed by Sir William Chambers, it was built in the London workshops of Samuel Butler. It was commissioned for £7,562 (£3.54 m or US$4.19 m in 2022, adjusted for inflation). It was built for George III's coronation in 1761, but was not ready in time; it was completed in 1762.
This state coach has been used at the coronation of every British monarch since William IV in 1831. The coach's great age, weight, and lack of manoeuvrability have limited its use to grand state occasions such as coronations and jubilee celebrations. Until the Second World War, the coach was the monarch's usual mode of transport to and from the State Opening of Parliament.
