Enjoy a right Royal day out for the Diamond Jubilee year and travel to London in the summer holidays

July 17, 2012 - PRLog -- London is packed with great things for families to do and you don’t need to stay in a posh West End hotel to enjoy them.

Look a little further a field for your accommodation and you’ll find great deals. Search the internet for special offers in Croydon, for example, and you’ll find plenty to choose from.

One of the many top attractions within ten miles of Croydon is the fabulous Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace.

One of the finest working stables in existence, the Royal Mews is home to all the State vehicles used for official engagements. A visit will give you a unique insight into the department of the Royal Household that provides all transport by road for The Queen and other members of the Royal Family.

This is no stuffy museum; be prepared to be dazzled with gold and to fall in love with the Windsor Greys and Cleveland Bays, the horses that pull the royal carriages.

If you are interested in a different type of horse power you will find the Royal collection of cars impressive too. One of the best known is the Rolls Royce Phantom VI used by Catherine Middleton to travel to Westminster Abbey, with her father Michael, on her wedding day In 2011.
The detailed livery used by staff on Royal occasions is also kept at the Mews.

The Royal Mews is a great day out whatever your age but it is especially exciting for children. Special activity days are laid on throughout the summer but be sure to book ahead. Art activities include dressing the coachman and design your own carriage.

With the free family audio tour aimed at youngsters between seven and eleven you meet “Alex” who has been brought up at the Mews and can’t wait to tell you all about it. Find out what it’s like to drive a Rolls Royce, train the magnificent horses and ride on a fairy-tale carriage through packed streets of cheering crowds.

In this busy Diamond Jubilee year it is essential to check the Mews is open as big State occasions and even rehearsals can mean opening hours change.

The carriages from the Mews are used for royal and State occasions, such as State Visits, weddings and the State Opening of Parliament.

From 1377 the royal hawks were kept at a Mews from 1377and the name ‘mews’ derives from the word ‘mew’, meaning moulting, as the birds were confined there at moulting time. The original building was destroyed by fire in 1534 and rebuilt as stables but kept the name Mews.

In the reign of George IV the royal stables transferred completely to Buckingham Palace.

The Royal Mews became a much more active place during the reign of Queen Victoria who had as many as 200 horses there at one time. Her husband, Prince Albert, built a forge and added sheds in which a cow was kept.

Today the top attractions at the Royal Mews include The Gold State Coach,
which has been used at every coronation since that of George IV in 1821.
Younger visitors will love The miniature carriages which were designed to be pulled by ponies, goats, sheep, heifers or dogs.
There is even a sleigh at the Mews. Decorated with bells, ribbons and tinsel, this unusual carriage is driven by Father Christmas when he visits the children who live at the Royal Mews.

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