I enjoyed writing that post about the Tower of London so much I thought I’d go back a few weeks and write a post about the Royal Mews. I was lucky enough to visit as part of my job -Royal Collection Trust generously hosted a group of our tour hosts to improve their knowledge of London which is by the way phenomenal already!
As part of the Royal Collection Trust, the Royal Mews is one of the sections of Buckingham Palace open to the public, along with the Queen’s Gallery (both open all year round) and the state rooms (only open in the summer).
Just to be able to say you’ve been inside part of the Queens house is pretty cool and if you’re into that Downton upstairs/downstairs sort of history, this is a must do! It’s where the carriages are kept, the horses are maintained and all the staff live as well!
You get to see approx 6-7 of the 80 odd carriages they have in storage plus the AMAZING Golden Carriage used for the coronations. I can’t describe quite how ridiculously impressive this is – it’s almost gaudy but somehow manages to pull it off! It’s also bloody huge!!
Check out the detail on this back section! They have to take an entire wall off the stables to get the thing out – a feat which takes a good couple of days once they’ve removed the priceless artwork from the walls, disconnected the electrics, removed the windows and finally opened up the barn doors! There’s no taking this beast for a joy ride around the courtyard!
Here’s a few more photos so you get an idea of the scale – all I can say is it’s worth the money simply to see this. The rest of the visit is very interesting, but nothing beats the grandeur of the carriage that carried the HRH the Queen on her coronation day!
All in, I’d reckon the visit takes just over an hour (there are audio guides and also info boards) which is a perfect little taster of royal life – especially if you visit outside of the summer season. If you do want to visit the State Rooms, make sure you book in advance. It gets booked up so you don’t want to be dissapointed 🙂
The Rambling Ranger 