State funeral

A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony held to honour heads of state or other important people of national significance. They usually include much pomp and ceremony.

United Kingdom

A state funeral consists of a military procession using a gun carriage from the private resting chapel to Westminster Hall, where the body usually lies in state for three days. This is then followed by a funeral service at Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral.

Related Topics:
Westminster Hall - Westminster Abbey - St. Paul's Cathedral

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Many of the features of a state funeral are shared by other types of funeral—a Royal Ceremonial funeral (for example, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's) often has a lying in state and Westminster Abbey service. The distinction between a state funeral and a ceremonial funeral is that in a state funeral, the gun carriage bearing the coffin is drawn by sailors from the Royal Navy rather than horses. This tradition dates from the funeral of Queen Victoria; the horses drawing the gun carriage bolted, and so ratings from the Royal Navy hauled it to the Royal Chapel at Windsor.

Related Topics:
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - Royal Navy - Queen Victoria - Windsor

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In the lying in state, the coffin rests on a catafalque in the middle of Westminster Hall. Each corner is guarded by various units of the Sovereign's Bodyguard or the Household Division. However, on some occasions (most notably the funerals of King George V and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother), male members of the Royal Family have mounted the guard, in what has become known as the Vigil of the Princes. For George V, his four sons King Edward VIII, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent stood guard. For the Queen Mother, her grandsons The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex and Viscount Linley took post. http://www.cbc.ca/clips/ram-newsworld/qmum_vigil020408.ram

Related Topics:
Lying in state - Coffin - Catafalque - Westminster Hall - Sovereign's Bodyguard - Household Division - King George V - Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother - Royal Family - Vigil of the Princes

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The honour of a state funeral is usually reserved for the Sovereign as Head of State. Few others have had them:

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• Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1806)
• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1852)
• The Rt Hon. William Gladstone (1898)
• Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar (1914)
• The Rt Hon. Sir Winston Churchill (1965)

(Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield was offered the honour, but refused it.)

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The most famous state funeral was that of a commoner—Churchill in 1965. The only difference between his state funeral and that of the Sovereign was the gun salute—prime ministers get a 19-gun salute, as a head of government.

Related Topics:
1965 - 19-gun salute

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