Your Carriage Awaits

It was a case of love and carriage for Prince Harry and his new bride as they swept down from Windsor Castle in their open-top Landau carriage, to rapturous cheers from the gathered crowds…

In another radical departure from tradition, Prince Harry and Meghan really gave Royal fans a treat as they set out on a procession through Windsor in an open-topped Ascot Landau carriage. The couple had said everyone was invited to this wedding, and it proved to be so. Prince Harry and Meghan visited the Royal Mews at Buckingham

Palace to select the Ascot Landau, which was the centre piece of public celebrations after the ceremony in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

“Prince Harry and Ms. Markle are very much looking forward to this part of the day,” read a statement from the Palace about the carriage ride a few weeks before the event. “It will be their chance to express their gratitude for the goodwill and warm wishes they have received from all quarters in the months since their engagement.”

The Ascot Landaus are the name of five open-topped carriages kept by the Royal Mews. The Landaus are so-named because they’re used during The Queen’s procession at Royal Ascot every year.

Crown Equerry Colonel Toby Browne, who runs the Royal Mews, said the type of carriage chosen is one Prince Harry knows well as two Landaus were used during Prince William and Kate’s carriage procession after they married in 2011.

Col Browne said: “He was Best Man at his brother’s wedding so he rode in one of these with the bridesmaids and pages as part of the procession following the wedding. But he’s also been in the Queen’s procession at the royal meeting at Ascot, so he’s ridden in these quite regularly.”

Col. Browne, said the carriage is a “wonderfully bright, small, lovely carriage, very easy for people to see – the passengers can sit up quite high. So there’s lots of visibility for everybody” - making it the ideal choice for the Royal Wedding.