Q: V. Suresh Kumar - Malaysia
Could you tell me more about the coach The Queen travelled to the State Opening of Parliament in earlier this week?
The Australian State Coach was used on this occasion. The coach was built for The Queen in Australia's bi-centennial year as a gift from the people of Australia; it was presented to Her Majesty in Canberra on 8th May 1988. Constructed by a small team of highly specialised Australian craftsmen under the direction of Mr J. Frecklington, the cost of the coach was met by public subscription and sponsorship. The design of the coach is similar to that of the Irish State Coach. Apart from the blue silk brocade upholstery fabric supplied by the Royal Household and the Irish Waterford crystal used in both the exterior and interior lamps, the coach is constructed of the finest-quality Australian materials.
In August 1988 the coach was transported to its permanent home in the Royal Mews. The first occasion on which it was used was in November of that year when The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh travelled in it to the State Opening of Parliament.
The coach may be drawn by six or four horses, postillion ridden.
Q: Warren - England
Does Guard Mounting take place at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Scotland like at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle in England?
Guard Mounting is one of the oldest and most familiar of all Royal ceremonies, where a New Guard exchanges duty with the Old Guard, drawn from one of the regiments of Foot Guards. This ceremony takes place less often at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It happens on a daily basis when The Queen is in residence and during the Lord High Commissioner's Week. Guard Mounting also occasionally takes place when The Prince of Wales is in residence.
Q: Pat Thomas - Cardiff, United Kingdom
With Christmas approaching, I would like to enquire what kind of gifts and cards the Royals send.
Each year The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh send about 750 Christmas cards. The card usually has a family photograph and the cyphers of The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, and is dated and signed Elizabeth R and Philip. Most of the cards are personal, sent to family, friends and members of the Royal Household; some are also sent officially to British and Commonwealth Prime Ministers, Governors-General and high commissioners. In addition, The Duke of Edinburgh also sends over 200 cards, signed only by himself, to regiments and organisations with which he is involved. Other members of the Royal Family send their own individual cards.
Every year The Queen gives a Christmas present to each member of the domestic staff in her Household, and to all her office and secretarial staff. The presents are given personally just before Christmas at Buckingham Palace and at Windsor, and on her arrival at Sandringham before New Year. Staff at Balmoral and Holyroodhouse also receive gifts, although The Queen is unable to present these personally.
Continuing a tradition of her father and grandfather (its original date is unknown), The Queen also gives Christmas puddings to many members of her staff. About 1450 puddings - paid for by The Queen through the Privy Purse - are distributed to staff and officials of the Household, the staffs of the private estates, staff of the Court Post Office and Palace police in London and Windsor. The puddings are accompanied by a greetings card from The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
In addition, The Queen sends (through the Privy Purse) a number of financial contributions to local charities in Windsor each Christmas.
Christmas trees are given by The Queen every year to several churches: Westminster Abbey receives two; St Paul's Cathedral three; the Guards Chapel, Wellington Barracks, two; St Giles Cathedral and the Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh one each; and Crathie Church one. Churches and schools in the Sandringham area also receive Christmas trees.
Q: D.Jeffery - Scotland
I was looking for further information on the late Duke of Kent. Can you tell me more about him?
Prince George Edward Alexander Edmund, the late Duke of Kent, was born on 20 December 1902 at York Cottage, Sandringham, the fifth child and fourth son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary). He received his early education from a tutor, then followed his elder brother Prince Henry (later Duke of Gloucester) to St Peter's Court Preparatory School at Broadstairs in Kent. At thirteen, like his brothers Princes Edward and Albert (the future King Edward VIII and King George VI) before him, he went to naval college, first at Osborne, then at Dartmouth. He remained in the Royal Navy until 1929.
On 29 November 1934 at Westminster Abbey, Prince George married Princess Marina of Greece, having been created Duke of Kent, Earl of St Andrews and Baron Downpatrick the previous month. The couple's London home was No. 3 Belgrave Square, and on the death of his aunt Princess Victoria in 1935 the Duke inherited Coppins, near Iver in Buckinghamshire. The Duke and Duchess of Kent had three children: Prince Edward, the present Duke of Kent (b. 1935); Princess Alexandra (b. 1936); and Prince Michael (b. 1942).
The Duke was greatly interested in paintings, furniture, books and objets d'art, and built up a fine collection. In 1938 he was nominated Governor-General of Australia, but the outbreak of the Second World War prevented his taking up the post. In the war he served first in the Naval Intelligence division of the Admiralty, and later became an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force. On 25 August 1942, flying to Iceland to make a tour of inspection, the Sunderland flying boat in which he was travelling crashed into a mountainside in the Scottish Highlands. The Duke and all but one of the crew and passengers were killed instantly. He was buried in the Frogmore Royal Burial Ground at Windsor.
Q: Margaret Bourke - Bendigo, Victoria, Australia
At the re-opening of the Scottish Parliament in July 1999, why was the crown of Scotland carried on a cushion before Queen Elizabeth? That is, why did she not wear it, as she does the Imperial Crown at the opening of the English Parliament?
The coronation of Charles II in 1651 at Scone was the last coronation in Scotland, after which time the Honours of Scotland (including the Scottish Crown) were buried to protect them from Cromwell, who was determined to destroy the Scottish Crown Jewels, as he had disposed of the English regalia.
Although they were returned, the Honours were never again used to crown a sovereign. Until the Treaty of Union in 1707, and in the absence of a resident sovereign, the regalia were taken to sittings of the Parliament in Edinburgh to signify the sovereign's presence and his or her consent to the passing of each Act. After the Union, when the new United Kingdom Parliament met in London, the Honours had no practical use and they were hidden away in an oak chest at Edinburgh Castle and forgotten about. Since being rediscovered by the author Walter Scott in 1818, and apart from being hidden again in 1941 to protect them against possible German invasion, the Honours have been on display at Edinburgh Castle.
The Honours were removed once from the Castle in 1953, to be taken to a National Service of Thanksgiving at the High Kirk of St Giles in Edinburgh, where they were formally presented to The Queen, who then returned them to their custodians. This ceremony included the Scottish Crown, which was presented to The Queen and not worn by her in a coronation ceremony.
For historical reasons therefore, the Scottish Crown is now carried before The Queen when she goes to the Scottish Parliament.
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