A landau is a coachbuilding term for a type of four-wheeled, convertible carriage

Carriage

A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...

. See also Landau (automobile).

It is lightweight and suspended on elliptical springs. It was invented in the 18th century (first noted in English in 1743 ) and was named after the German city of Landau

Landau

Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town , a long-standing cultural centre, and a market and shopping town, surrounded by vineyards and wine-growing villages of the...

 in the Rhenish Palatinate where they were first produced. Lord, Hopkinson, coachmakers of Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

, London, produced the first English landaus in the 1830s.

A landau, drawn by a pair or four-in-hand

Four-in-hand (carriage)

A four-in-hand is a carriage drawn by a team of four horses having the reins rigged in such a way that it can be driven by a single driver. The stagecoach and the tally-ho are usually four-in-hand coaches....

, is one of several kinds of vis-à-vis

Vis-à-vis (carriage)

A vis-à-vis is a carriage in which the passengers sit face to face. The term comes from the French vis-à-vis, meaning face to face. These carriages are still commonly made by Amish carriage makers in the midwestern United States. Also in the Western world, the vis-a-vis is the most common type of...

, a social carriage with facing seats over a dropped footwell (illustration), which was perfected by the mid-19th century in the form of a swept base that flowed in a single curve. The soft folding top is divided into two sections, front and rear, latched at the center. These usually lie perfectly flat, but the back section can be let down or thrown back while the front section can be removed or left stationary. When fully opened, the top can completely cover the passengers, with some loss of the graceful line.

The landau's center section might contain a fixed full-height glazed door, or more usually a low half-door. There would usually be a separate raised open driver's upholstered bench-seat, but a landau could be postilion

Postilion

A postilion rider was the driver of a horse-drawn coach or post chaise, mounted on one of the drawing horses...

-driven, and there was usually a separate groom's seat, sprung above and behind the rear axle, saving the groom from having to stand on a running board.

A small landau, a coupé with a folding top, was called a landaulet

Landaulet

A landaulet or landaulette is a car body style, "an enclosed sedan or coupé with a folding top at the extreme rear quarter, over the rear seat."...

. A brougham

Brougham (carriage)

A brougham was a light, four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage built in the 19th century. It was either invented for Scottish jurist Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain, or simply made fashionable by his example...

 called a brougham-landaulet had a top collapsible from the rear doors backward. A five-glass landau was fitted with a frontal glass windscreen and two windows on each side (including retractable windows on the doors).

The landau reached its full development by the mid-19th century. http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10420437&wwwflag=&imagepos=5 It was purely a city carriage of luxury type. The low shell of the landau made for maximum visibility of the occupants and their clothing, a feature that makes a landau still a popular choice for Lords Mayor

Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...

 on ceremonial occasions.

Royal use in Britain

The Royal Mews

Royal Mews

A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....

 contains several different types of Landau: seven State Landaus are in regular use (dating from between 1838 & 1872), plus five Semi-state Landaus. As well as being slightly plainer in ornamentation, the Semi-state Landaus are distinguished from the State Landaus in that they are postilion

Postilion

A postilion rider was the driver of a horse-drawn coach or post chaise, mounted on one of the drawing horses...

-driven, rather than driven from the box

Coach (carriage)

A coach was originally a large, usually closed, four-wheeled carriage with two or more horses harnessed as a team, controlled by a coachman and/or one or more postilions. It had doors in the sides, with generally a front and a back seat inside and, for the driver, a small, usually elevated seat in...

. (It may be noted that a coachman

Coachman

A coachman is a man whose business it is to drive a coach, a horse-drawn vehicle designed for the conveyance of more than one passenger — and of mail — and covered for protection from the elements...

 on a box-seat rather obscures the passengers in a landau from public view; for this reason, even when others are riding in State Landaus, The Queen tends to ride in one of the Semi-state versions so as to be clearly seen.)

The 1902 State Landau

1902 State Landau

The 1902 State Landau is a landau open-topped horse-drawn carriage owned by the United Kingdom for royal use within Britain. It is by far the most elegant of the several landau carriages used by the royal family...

 is an eye-catching carriage built for the coronation of Edward VII in 1902. It, unlike the earlier State Landaus, is postilion-driven. So too are the five Ascot Landaus, smaller and lighter carriages with basket-work sides, which are used each year (as their name suggests) at Royal Ascot. The Royal Mews also retains a miniature landau made for the children of George V

George V

George V was king of the United Kingdom and its dominions from 1910 to 1936.George V or similar terms may also refer to:-People:* George V of Georgia * George V of Imereti * George V of Hanover...

 and designed to be pulled by ponies.

Landaus make for a striking display (as long as the weather is fine), and they are used on occasions ranging from State Visits and the Opening of Parliament, to Royal Weddings, Jubilees and other celebrations. They also play a regular part in the welcoming of new Ambassadors to Britain: Soon after arriving in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, foreign ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

s have an audience with the Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 in which they present their Letters of Credence or Letters of High Commission to Her Majesty. The ambassadors are collected from the embassy or residence by a State landau from the Royal Mews

Royal Mews

A Royal Mews is a mews of the British Royal Family. In London the Royal Mews has occupied two main sites, formerly at Charing Cross, and since the 1820s at Buckingham Palace....

 for this purpose, and escorted by the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps

Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps

Her Majesty's Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps is a senior member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. He is the Queen's link with the diplomatic community in London, arranges the annual Diplomatic Corps Reception by the Sovereign, organises the regular presentation of...

, who is based at St. James's Palace

St. James's Palace

St. James's Palace is one of London's oldest palaces. It is situated in Pall Mall, just north of St. James's Park. Although no sovereign has resided there for almost two centuries, it has remained the official residence of the Sovereign and the most senior royal palace in the UK...

. The ambassador's suite follows in another State landau.

Royal visits in Canada

As Queen of Canada, the British monarch has a state landau at disposal in Ottawa for ceremonial processions from Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall

Rideau Hall is, since 1867, the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a 0.36 km2 estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main building consisting of 170 rooms across 9,500 m2 , and 24 outbuildings around the...

 to Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill

Parliament Hill , colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. Its Gothic revival suite of buildingsthe parliament buildings serves as the home of the Parliament of Canada and contains a number of architectural...

. The state landau was given to Canada in 1911 and was formerly used by the Governor General of Australia.

For the Queen's Plate

Queen's Plate

The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

 in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, the monarch and her family have a private landau owned by the Ontario Jockey Club and gift from E.P. Taylor.