FOR the ultimate in heir suspension, take a look at the latest royal carriage being painstakingly built by an Australian master craftsman who is fighting cancer like King Charles.
Jim Frecklington, 74, who has already made two royal coaches, has toiled almost every day for six years on the 3¼-ton gold leaf-embossed work of art at his warehouse in Sydney.
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He hopes King Charles, 75, and Queen Camilla, 77, will pay a visit to see it on their current tour Down Under so he can show them the extra-ordinarily intricate creation he hopes to complete this year.
Jim revealed the carriage, which takes many of its design cues from Rolls-Royce limousines, for the first time to The Sun on Sunday.
The craftsman, who first worked for the Royal Family in London in 1972, confessed it will be his last, and possibly the last, as carriage-building is a dying art.
He said: “If I didn’t make it, no one else in the world would.
“Nobody else knows how to and it’s my best yet. I wanted to do something special to honour King Charles.”
Jim, whose prostate and bowel cancer has spread to his lungs, admits he has been “slowed down a bit” by his illness and fortnightly chemotherapy sessions.
But it is no surprise the 19ft long, 11ft 2in high coach, which will be pulled through London by six horses, has taken so long.
Jim, who corresponds with Charles about his work, has gone to great lengths at his own expense to turn the vehicle into a “time capsule” incorporating unique components.
The crown on top of the carriage is made from timber donated in 2019 by the Dean of Westminster from Westminster Abbey.
The wood is believed to be at least 1,000 years old. The roof is decorated with 56 bronze flowers representing every Commonwealth country’s national flower.
Jim has placed Australia’s — the golden wattle — above the door through which the King and Queen will one day step.
The undercarriage is spotted gum, an Australian hardwood, and the cabin is made from aluminium panels shaped by hand on an English wheeling machine.
It is painted in black and royal claret and embossed with the King’s insignia and cyphers and a floral design created by Jim.
The metal is the same used in Rolls-Royce cars. Red wheel hubs embossed with a gold crown logo do not rotate with the wheels, another idea copied from the luxury motors.
Behind the cabin, there are door handles acquired from the Sydney Opera House to help keep the footman or brakeman steady. The steps and undercarriage contain steel from the Sydney Harbour Bridge donated following recent renovation work.
Bronze bearings in the steering are from the 3801 Australian steam train built in 1943. It was retired in 1962 and has been preserved.
Four brass lanterns remain on Jim’s workshop table but are ready to be installed and fitted with Waterford Crystal.
‘No stone unturned’
The larger panels display animal symbols of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and the smaller ones each national flower.
The coach has thick all-rubber tyres on its vast wheels and hydraulic stabilisers to stop the body rocking.
Jim used a similar suspension technique on his other royal carriages — the Australian State Coach finished in 1989 and Diamond Jubilee State Coach, in 2013.
If I didn’t make it, no one else in the world would
Jim Frecklington
It is a far cry from the Gold State Coach which Queen Elizabeth II claimed made her feel “travel sick” at her Coronation in 1953.
Jim said: “The reason why I built this one like this is that Her Late Majesty said she didn’t like the ride on the Golden State Coach.
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“The Queen told me how horrible it was as it oscillated. She said it should never be used and should be put in a museum.”
While the exterior surely wows crowds, the interior has been designed with even more thought and care.
There will be portraits of all 42 Kings and Queens since William the Conqueror, miniature replicas from London’s National Portrait Gallery. Jim said: “I don’t think anyone’s done that before.”
He also obtained two Dead Man’s Pennies, coins sent to families of all those who died fighting for Britain in World War One.
Two replicas have been forged and placed inside the door next to where the King and Queen will sit.
Beneath the seat will be a capsule containing the Westminster Watch, a soldier-issued World War One timepiece worn by Capt Edward Elliott who was killed by a Nazi bomb attack on the Houses of Parliament in May 1941.
It’s not only a coach but a time capsule of British history
Jim Frecklington
Jim hopes the touches will mean his carriage can replicate the spirit of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey.
The cabin is heated and fitted with German-made electric windows. The seat fabric is Suffolk silk. But the carriage is not only built for comfort.
The windows will be one-inch thick glass and the chassis is to be armour plated.
The carriage is the first built for a king since the Gold State Coach made in 1762 for George III.
Astonishingly, proud Aussie Jim worked without drawings or plans.
Jim, who is based in Manly, said: “I try to leave no stone unturned and do the best I can.”
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His two previous coaches were bought by a benefactor through the Royal Collection Trust and have not cost the Royal Family, UK or Aussie taxpayers a penny.
Jim said: “I pay for this. It has cost a lot of money. I mortgaged my home to finance the Diamond Jubilee State Coach and have mortgaged my home again to build this.
“But I have to because no one else in the world knows how to make something like this.
“It’s hard to put a value on it as I’ve spent seven days a week working on it for six or seven years.”
When completed, the coach will be flown to the UK by cargo plane.
Jim said: “The King is fully aware of the situation and has been kept up to date.
“It’s up to the Royal Household to decide how they would like to collect it or have it sent.
“I’d really like to see it presented to the King on behalf of the Commonwealth.”
He added: “In my last correspondence I made him aware that I have been having chemotherapy. So I understand what the King has been going through.
“It would be lovely for His Majesty to come here and look at the carriage while he is in Australia.”
Jim hopes his showpiece could be called the Commonwealth Carriage, adding: “I’m very proud of the Commonwealth. It’s made the world a much safer place.”
He said of his coach: “It’s not only a coach but a time capsule of British history.”
- THE carriage will feature on The Sun’s Royal Exclusive show on YouTube.
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