Royal Indian state carriage auctioned

The 19th Century state carriage was used to transport European royalty including the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII)

A royal Indian state carriage that is nearly 200 years old and was once owned by the Maharaja of Mysore is to be sold at auction.

The coach, believed to be of British origin, was used by the maharaja to transport European royalty including the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII).

The 19th Century olive carriage has 16 windows, a domed roof and is decorated with the Mysore coat of arms.

It is expected to fetch between £70,000 and £100,000 at auction in Surrey.

The carriage was first offered by the maharaja in 1974 and later exhibited by Sotheby's at Olympia in London in 1991.

Before independence in 1947, some 562 princes ruled over a third of India. Mysore has been described as one of the country's most glorious states of that period.