The horse-drawn carriage remains the ceremonial vehicle of British state occasions, with state landaus and glass coaches maintained by the Royal Mews. In the October 2026 Windsor welcome, the carriage procession carried Sultan Haitham from the Royal Dais to the castle through cheering crowds. The deliberate slowness is the point: horses turn an arrival into a procession, and a procession into a public celebration of the guest.
(Roger Harris/House of Lords / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0))
Mentioned in: Gun Salutes, Gilded Carriages and Centuries of Ritual: Why the Oman State Visit Matters