Since the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953 there have been a plethora of British toy soldier royalty souvenirs commemorating the Coronations, births, deaths, marriages and Jubilees, including portrait figures as well as the accoutrement of the various events. One of the most well-known of these is the Corgi model of the 1902 Royal State Landau. The Landau itself was built in 1902 by Hooper for the 1903 Coronation of Edward VI and Queen Alexandra. It is an open-topped carriage 18 feet long, with two sets of seats facing each other and made extra wide to accommodate Edwards significant girth. On the back are seated two footmen, and the coach is pulled by up to six horses and steered by the postillions riding the left-hand mount of each pair. The footmen and postillions are dressed in gold state dress.
The Corgi model is painted in a deep royal purple “The door panels, back and front panels, bear the Royal Arms with crown, mantle, motto, helmet and garter. On the lower quarter panel is the collar of the Order of the Garter, encircling its star and surmounted by the Tudor crown”.[1] It is considerable smaller than the massive gilt Royal State Coach, but considerably more comfortable to ride in, and the open top allows for a better view of the Royals riding inside.
A number of other toy soldier and toy vehicle manufacturers have produced versions of the open road landau. Perhaps the most famous being Britains #2094, the State Open Landau, carrying Queen Elizabeth waving to the crowd and Prince Philip sitting stoically in his Naval Uniform. This was introduced to the catalog in 1954, a year after the Coronation in response to the tremendous interest in the event. Despite being a somewhat fragile free-standing model, it was popular and lasted in the catalog until 1967.[2]
Corgi is a well-established British firm that produces primarily toy cars and trucks, but has occasionally deviated from this marketing formula for special issues. Wikipedia summarizes the genesis of Corgi toys as follows: “Corgi Toys were introduced in the UK in July 1956 and were manufactured in Swansea, Wales, for 27 years before the company went into liquidation. A management buy-out re-formed the company as Corgi Toys Limited in March 1984. In 1989, the management sold the Corgi brand to Mattel and the factory was retained under the name of “Microlink Industries Ltd”. In 1995, Corgi regained its independence as a new company, Corgi Classics Limited, and moved to new premises in Leicester. The Corgi brand was acquired by Hornby in 2008.”[3]
In 1977, in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, Corgi introduced their own model of the Open State Landau. The coach itself was made in England in diecast metal (containing no lead) and painted in dark maroon, with accurate decals on the doors, as in the real coach. Everything else was produced in plastic. Sitting in the coach is Elizabeth in a yellow outfit and hat with a featureless face, waving to the crowd. To her left sits Prince Philip in his Naval Uniform. Behind them sit the two footmen, joined at the hip, in State Dress. The coach is pulled by only 4 Windsor Greys, with red livery, and two postillions sit upon the left side horse of each pair. Two features added to the success of this coach. The first was that it came attached to a rather unremarkable grey plastic base which held all the components together intact. Second, because of the extensive use of plastic it was relatively cheap. It came in a long grey box, with clear plastic on the front and top so the model could be fully seen without removing it from the box. Interestingly, trailing the coach, attached to the back corner of the base, is a single Corgi dog (in scale), such that one might wonder if the misbehaving pup had been thrown out of the coach by an annoyed Philip. This first version of the Landau must have been very popular, as it turns up in many collections and can be readily found inexpensively in on-line auctions and antique shops.
A second version of the same Corgi Landau was re-introduced in 1981 as a souvenir of the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana. The only differences from the first version was the introduction of an illustrated box, without the plastic windows, and a label on the front top of the grey base stating “Royal Wedding 1981”. Otherwise, the coach and base is exactly the same as the first version, right down to the disappointing inclusion of the same Elizabeth and Philip rather than portraits of the newlyweds. As was the first version, this model was made in Great Britain. One cannot help thinking that the decision to save some money by using the old figures of the Queen and Prince rather than putting Diana in the coach ultimately cost them considerable sales (see the photo of the Royal Couple in Figure 4. The only thing different and collectable about this version is the illustrated box itself. Judging by the paucity of this version on the current market, one might assume the reissue was not highly successful.
Somewhat surprisingly, in the year 2000 Corgi Classics introduced a new all metal model of the Landau. The precipitating event was apparently the Queen Mother’s centenary. The coach itself was basically the same, but now the 4 Windsor Greys with red tack, the postillions and the footmen as well as Elizabeth and Philip were cast in metal. The castings were modified and improved from the old plastic versions. The set came in a royal purple box in which was a white hard foam interior holding all the pieces separately to keep them from breaking. The set was produced in China. Philip still wears his Naval Uniform, but Elizabeth (presumably Elizabeth II and not the 100 year old Queen Mother, also Elizabeth) is wearing a light blue dress, but still waving to the crowd. The detail of the painting of the figures is vastly improved from the plastic versions. Included in the packaging is a really nice wooden base into which horses and coach peg into holes to keep them in place. On the front is a brass plaque reading “The Queen Mother’s Century 1900-2000”. The set also held the requisite (and worthless) certificate of authenticity.
Just 2 years later, a final version of the State Landau was produced by Corgi Classics for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth’s reign, 1952 to 2002. This model was radically different from the earlier plastic models in that it was all metal; coach, horses and figures. It was sold in a very plush royal purple box with the contents folded into purple velvet. The set is listed as in 1:40 scale, slightly smaller than the typical 1:32 scale of most British toy soldiers (though it does not appear to be radically smaller). The component pieces were different castings in metal, including the Queen in all white with a crimson sash and wearing her crown, but still waving to the crowd. Philip, the Prince Consort, sits beside her in blue military attire, bare headed and hands folded in his lap. Interestingly, Philip died in 2021. The detail of the figures, especially the faces, is a vast improvement from the monochrome flesh wash of the plastic figures. The two footmen are now separate castings with a peg in their seat to hold them in place, and the postillions also have a peg in their crotch (like Heyde Cavalry) to hold them on their horses. Unlike all the previous versions, all horses are now brown with black mane and tails, white socks and black tack. This set is accompanied by a beautifully finished wood base with a brass plaque stating Queen Elizabeth II, 1952 – Golden Jubilee – 2002. As in the third version, the corgi dog is gone. Again, this beautiful rendition is made in China. Compared to the older plastic versions, this model commands a pretty hefty price if you can find it.
Other manufacturers have produced models of the State Landau. These include a 9½ inch,1:48 scale, 4-horse model by FG Taylor (1920-1978). This came out after the war after FG Taylor separated from the Barretts in 1945 (4). They re-issued the coach for the 1953 Coronation of Elizabeth. My copy of this reissue only has the queen in it, though perhaps Phillip is taking a break somewhere else.
Another novel English-made Landau was made in a tiny 4-inch, gilt, 6-horse model by Benbros (1953).[4] This was probably in response to the Coronation, as the tiny model came in a small illustrated box as a simple souvenir. They later produced the landau again in a slightly larger format with only 4 horses and the Queen, Phillip and the two footmen all separate castings only 5-6 mm in size and easily lost. They also produced a Royal State Coach, a western covered wagon, a Cinderella pumpkin coach and Santa’s sleigh in this minute scale. Production probably stopped with the lead safety laws around 1964.
In 2003, Britains Petit started producing an extensive series of military units and coaches on parade to celebrate the Golden Jubilee. They did produce a model of Queen Salote and the Sultan of Kelantan riding in the blue Semi-State Landau drawn by two dark brown horses. Surprisingly, they did not make a model of the State Landau for this series.
More contemporary production by Marlborough of Wales was introduced in December of 1991, as part of a set depicting Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. While a number of other sets were involved, the centerpiece was Victoria in an open landau with foot men and postillions and two highlanders riding behind the Queen and a lady-in-waiting. The set, like all Marlborough figures, was in 54mm scale, and featured 4 Windsor Greys, and an available second add-on set containing another 4-horse team that could be hitched up to the original 4 to make 8. The whole set was complemented by additional sets of a choir and a party greeting the queen. It was withdrawn from production in 1993. Marlborough did produce two more landaus in their Durbar series, but neither was the Royal State Landau.
William Hocker in California also produced beautiful but expensive representation of the coach at the halt which was part of a large boxed Victorian presentation set of the 1897 Jubilee, but you could also buy just the coach. Both incorporate Queen Victoria as a passenger. Ironically, regarding the Marlborough and Hocker depictions, Victoria died in 1901, a year before the actual 1902 Royal State Landau was built.
The inexpensive nature of the original Corgi coach led to a number of very creative adaptations of the Landau, with which you could remove all the plastic horses and figures and replace them with more interesting and satisfying metal ones. I have included a really novel adaptation of an Indian Army landau, all in metal, using the die-cast Corgi landau with new or adapted metal figures and horses made by the creative Bob Yekink for his “Soldiers by Bob” line in the 1990s.
In contrast to the many variations of the Royal State Coach, produced as far back as the 1909 Coronation, (see references 5 and 6), the interest in the State Landau seems to have been driven initially by the frenzy of souvenirs for the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth, and continued for more than 50 years. Collecting these models is certainly a niche market, and the few made allow this to be a very accessible collecting goal.
Bibliography
- Wallis, Joe. Regiments of All Nations. Self-published, 2011
- The 1902 Royal State Landau. 2026, Wikipedia.com
- Wikipedia. The Corgi Toy Company. 2026, Wikipedia.com
- Joplin, Norman. The Great Book of Hollow-Cast Figures. New Cavendish Books. London, 1993.
- Beierwaltes, Will. Britains Profiles; The Royal State Coach of England. PP 21-23. Old Toy Soldier Newsletter: 14; Vol 4, 1990.
- Beierwaltes, Will. Other Makers; The Royal State Coach of England. PP 22-25. Old Toy Soldier Newsletter :14; Vol 5, 1990.
[1] Wikipedia, 2026
[2] Joe Wallis, 2011
[3] Wikipedia, 2026
[4] See Joplin, Great Book of Hollowcast Figures.