Royal Coachmaker Jim Frecklington Dies Aged 76, Leaving Behind a Legacy of Craftsmanship

Jim Frecklington, considered the world's last royal coachmaker, has died aged 76, leaving behind a legacy of exquisite horsedrawn carriages built for the British royal family.

Mr Frecklington passed away in an aged care facility in Manly on Friday after a lengthy battle with cancer. His latest project, the Commonwealth Royal Coach for King Charles III, remains unfinished, though his team is in the process of adding the final touches.

A Visionary Craftsman

Owen Webb, a vehicle body painter and friend, said Mr Frecklington's team is close to completing the coach. "I'll have what I'd call in, vehicle terms, it 'buttoned up', or about 98 per cent finished by the end of the week," he said. "I would have loved to have had it done so he could see it."

"I think he would have [died knowing it] was in good hands and we'd get it finished for him," Mr Webb added.

A Legacy of Royal Carriages

The Commonwealth Royal Coach weighs more than 3 tonnes and was funded by remortgaging Mr Frecklington's home. It commemorates more than 1,000 years of British monarchy and features hand-applied gold leaf, timber from Westminster Abbey, and electric windows and air conditioning.

In December 2024, Mr Frecklington said of the coach: "This coach will become a national treasure of Britain."

A Life of Craftsmanship

Mr Frecklington's passion for coachmaking began when he was eight and his Shetland pony refused to be ridden. He built a cart and coaxed the pony into towing a small trailer.

After graduating from The Scots College in Sydney in 1968, Mr Frecklington worked at Windsor Castle and the Royal Mews in London, caring for the Duke of Edinburgh's horses and Queen Elizabeth II's ceremonial horses.

Warringah councillor and lifelong friend Darren Jones said Mr Frecklington was a great man who left a "pretty big legacy". "The coaches have been used when parliament opens and during coronations," he said.

Tributes

Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) paid tribute to Mr Frecklington, saying "the realm is considerably better upholstered" thanks to him. "It falls to remarkably few tradesmen to shape the pageantry of an entire monarchy, fewer still to do it twice, across two reigns, from a shed on Sydney's northern beaches," ACM wrote online.

Mr Jones said Mr Frecklington had a degree of excellence and expected nothing less. "He is regarded as the last coachmaker in the world. And the irony of all that is that he didn't have any plans drawn. He had it all in his head and he had the ability to be able to transpose that to different tradesmen," he said.