POMP and Ceremony was on display in central London last night as the Household Cavalry and Armed Forces took over the streets in Westminster to rehearse for the King’s Coronation Parade that will take place on May 6, 2023.
The glorious day of British history will begin with King Charles III and Queen Camilla travelling in splendid carriages pulled by the Windsor Greys from Buckingham Palace to and from Westminster Abbey for the Coronation.
They will be accompanied by over 200 horses from the Household Cavalry, comprising the Life Guards and the Blues and Royals.
The Cleveland Bays will surround the carriages, They’re housed along with the Windsor Greys in the 32 horse stable at the Royal Mews near the Palace.
They are mostly bred at the private Royal Mews at Hampton Court Palace. All royal carriage horses are trained to be ridden first before learning to pull a carriage.
The perfectly groomed horses will add glamour to the traditional royal ceremony. It will take at least 5 hours to clean the tack, and 6 hours to clean the uniform, shine the brass armor and helmet topped with horsehair, whiten the gloves, and then shine the boots to a mirror image, and extra time, of course, to groom the horses to a glossy coat, with perfectly cut mane.
Once ready, the horses and riders of the Household Cavalry will be given an official inspection by the Silver Stick (the historic protective officer for the monarch.)
All week long the horses have been practicing their roles, mostly at night when there’s little interference from traffic or pedestrians. The Household Cavalry horses are mainly Irish draft crosses, black and some with white sox.
These horses like the other royal horses and the late Queen’s racehorses are all trained gently using Monty Roberts’s natural horsemanship.
The late Queen invited Roberts to Windsor to teach her trainers his methods that she had read about in his bestseller from 1997, The Man Who Listens to Horses. They became friends. Sadly, Roberts attended the Queen’s funeral.
Just because the horses are trained with gentle methods doesn’t mean they aren’t ready for a rowdy public. Their training includes how to handle the noise of crowds. It should be remembered that their riders are current troops. They will form part of the security for the event along with the police, and 6000 troops from the military, also in the procession.
On route to Westminster Abbey, Charles and Camilla will utilize the Diamond Jubilee Coach, from 2014, which is complete with air conditioning and excellent shock absorbers.
After the ceremony, they will return on the same route down the Mall in the Gold State Coach, from 1762. Both coaches with their beautiful horses will add elegance to the Coronation.
Politicalite will have coverage of the Coronation throughout the festivities.
