Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's royal wedding carriage to go on display at Buckingham Palace

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s tour through sunny Windsor in an open top carriage immediately after their wedding was one of the highlights of a dazzlingly memorable day.

Now for the first time the elegant Ascot Landau that transported the royal newlyweds on May 19 is going on public display.

The 135-year-old carriage will be on view to visitors to the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace from today until the end of September — although they will not be able to sit in it.

It is on display as part of the palace’s summer opening, which also includes a special exhibition of more than 100 works of art personally selected by Prince Charles to mark his 70th birthday.

A fleet of five Ascot Landaus, with their distinctive wickerwork sides, was bought by Queen Victoria in 1883 and they are normally kept at Windsor Castle. As the name suggests, they are most often used for the annual royal procession at the June race meeting.

They have also been used to transport royals on several high-profile official occasions, including the investiture of the Prince of Wales at Caernarfon Castle in 1969 and the Queen’s silver jubilee visits to Glasgow and Cardiff.

When Harry and Meghan picked the Ascot Landau for their wedding day, crown equerry Toby Browne said it was because “it’s a wonderfully bright, small, lovely carriage, very easy for people to see — the passengers can sit up quite high. So there’s lots of visibility for everybody.” More than 100,000 well-wishers watched the couple as they made their trip around Windsor’s streets and down the Long Walk back to the castle, with tens of millions more viewing on TV.

It was a much less formal carriage than the plush 1902 State Landau used by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on their wedding day in 2011.

The Ascot Landaus can be seen with a ticket for the Royal Mews, Buckingham Palace, which costs £11 for adults or £28.40 for a family ticket. They can also be viewed by anyone buying a Royal Day Out ticket which includes entrance to the State Rooms and the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace. They cost £42.30 for an adult or £107.90 for a family.

For more information head to royalcollection.org.uk