We have published a number of articles about the largest set produced by Britains after World War II over the past few years. Issued for just one year in 1953 to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, this giant set combined the revised version of the State Coach, remodelled to include Elizabeth and Prince Philip rather than George VI and his wife Elizabath (the Queen Mother), with a massive escort. The latter comprised Yeomen of the Guard, Footmen and Grooms, “the Sovereign’s Escort”, as well as a large contingent of mounted Household Cavalry, and Royal Marines and Irish Guards at present arms (to guard the route).
As noted elsewhere an example of the set appeared in the Morphy’s June 2026 auction. This appeared to be a standard example.
However, as discussed in previous articles (see for example: Old Toy Soldier, Fall 2021, Vol. 45, No. 3) and in Joe Wallis’s Regiments of All Nations book, the exact composition of the set remains uncertain. Unfortunately, the example that came up for auction in the UK this summer does not help to resolve those uncertainties. Owned by the same family since 1953, the set included a full Band of the Life Guards, as well as the usual contingent as outlined above. This appears to be how it was originally bought and as described and pictured below seems to fit neatly into the huge box!
The top layer of the large box contains the State Coach, Attendants to the State Coach and the Sovereign’s Escort of Household Cavalry. These groups were subsequently marketed separately as Sets #1470, #1475 and #2067 respectively.
The layer below is not so straight-forward to catalogue. Unlike Britain’s pre-war giant display sets, most examples of this set did not include the standard tie cards or compartments for horse-drawn vehicles, etc. Instead, there are four fairly shallow compartments that lie beneath the #1470 box used to contain the State Coach, and 8 much deeper ones that lie under the trays used to contain Sets #1475 and #2067. According to Joe Wallis and James Opie the remaining figures were simply wrapped in tissue and laid in these various compartments (the infantry in the shallow compartments and the cavalry in the deeper ones.
The set sold in England contains 50 mounted Life Guards, and 50 Royal Horse Guards and unusually a 12 piece Life Guards Band, making 112 pieces in total. These fit neatly into the 8 deeper compartments, with 14 pieces in each one. The 41 Marines and 27 Foot guards take up the shallower compartments for infantry.
It certainly makes a splendid display when set out using the instructions provided by Britains, which did of course mention the Life Guards Band! Yet another intriguing mystery.
