A bed that really IS fit for a king! Charles offered unique bedroom in Parliament before coronation

He has no shortage of palaces in which to rest his head the night before he is crowned.

But Carlos III can also take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sleep in a unique bedroom in the Parliament on the eve of his coronation.

The Mail can reveal that he will be offered the use of a bed fit for a king, and that he mysteriously disappeared, inside Westminster’s largest residence, ahead of the May 6 ceremony.

The State Bed, within the State Apartments of Speaker’s House, was built to honor a tradition dating back to William the Conqueror that the monarch slept in the Palace of Westminster the night before his coronation in nearby Westminster Abbey.

In 1979, the bed was found when its owners, Ron and Wendy Martin, admitted that they had slept in the national treasure for 20 years, and that their son Benedict was born there.

If the King sleeps in Westminster the night before his coronation, he’ll be reviving a tradition that dates back to William the Conqueror.

However, George IV is the only royal to actually do it in the Speaker’s House, in 1821, and that was in a different bed. The old Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire in 1834 and its Gothic Revival replacement was not ready for Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne.

Designed by Augustus Pugin, the State Bed was carved from walnut by John Braund in 1859. Measuring 12 feet high and 7 feet 6 inches wide, it has a large intricate canopy and gold inlays and features the royal coat of arms.

It remained in the State Bedroom on the first floor of Speaker’s House until 1943, when it is believed to have been moved into a shop. From there, the bed was sold and forgotten.

It was only rediscovered decades later in a woolen mill in West Wales after an appeal by the Victoria and Albert Museum. In 1979, it was found out when its owners, Ron and Wendy Martin, admitted that they had slept in the national treasure for 20 years, and that their son Benedict was born there, at their Northamptonshire manor house. Then they moved to a cottage in Maesllyn, Ceredigion, where the bed was too big. So they stored it in the mill next door.

The couple had bought the bed for less than £100 at auction in the 1950s, but turned down a government offer of approximately £5000 for it. But they sold it in 1981 and restored it with cash from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Nearly 1,500 members of the public will be able to see the State Bed before the coronation, as tickets have just gone on sale for tours of the State Apartments between April 1-15. And last night, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, said: Speaker’s House are always amazed when they see this huge, beautifully carved bed with its embroidered fabric and hear about its fascinating history. We believe it was stored with other heritage furnishings during the Second World War to protect it from bombing, which destroyed the House of Commons in 1941.

“The fact that something as big as this could get ‘lost’ and end up in a Welsh wool mill years later seems pretty incredible, but it only adds to the intrigue surrounding the bed. It really is a national treasure, and I’m delighted that more people are able to see it during the tours of the Speaker’s House.

Book tickets at: ukparliament.seetickets.com/timeslot/the-state-apartments-of-speaker-s-house-tour

Designed by Augustus Pugin, the State Bed was carved from walnut by John Braund in 1859

Queen Elizabeth II pictured at her coronation in 1953 holding the Orb and Scepter while wearing the imperial state crown