On September 19, 2022, at 11:00 local time in London, the state funeral ceremony of the late Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was held at Westminster Abbey March Mr.
In addition to British royal family members, government officials and many British people, more than 500 representatives from nearly 200 countries, regions and international organizations in the world were also invited to attend the funeral, including more than 100 heads of state and government and 20 foreign royal members. The funeral process will be broadcast live to the world through various media. It is estimated that the number of viewers will reach billions, which will be the largest funeral in human history. The last time the UK held a state funeral dates back to 57 years ago, the death of Prime Minister Churchill .
■On September 12, 2022, the hearse transporting the coffin of Elizabeth II left the Holyrud Palace in Edinburgh .
How to carry out the British state funeral?
State funeral is a funeral ceremony held for the deceased in the name of the state, representing the country's high respect and remembrance of the deceased. As the highest-standard funeral in the UK, the basic process of the British state funeral ceremony was laid by Queen Victoria , and the funeral process of Elizabeth II was roughly as follows:
First, the queen's coffin arrived in London from Scottish and was transported to Westminster Hall. The coffin was placed on a horse-drawn cart and arrived at Westminster Hall under the escort of soldiers, officials and mourners. The coffin was covered with the queen's exclusive royal flag and placed the crown on it.
■On September 14, the Queen's coffin was placed on a cannon cart and passed through the city of London to Westminster Palace .
Secondly, before the official funeral was held, the coffin was parked in Westminster Hall, the public was allowed to enter to express their respect and condolences to the queen, and members of the royal family also held a vigil. The coffin platform where the coffin is placed is guarded by the Queen's Guard.
■8 Guards from the Grenadier Guards carried the Queen's coffin into Westminster Hall.
Again, on the day of the funeral, the queen's coffin was still carried by a cannon carriage and was transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey not far away. The funeral ceremony will be held there, lasting about an hour, and the ceremony will be over the UK for two minutes of silence. The Queen's coffin will then be transported from Westminster Palace to Windsor for burial. A huge funeral procession will accompany the Queen's coffin through this final itinerary, including royal members, government officials, the Queen's attendants during her lifetime, the King's Guards and representatives of various countries.
The queen's servant walked next to the coffin and acted as a coffin guard. The soldiers from the Queen's Guard guarded the cannon truck that carried the coffin and acted as a coffin carryer, and the cannon truck was led forward by the Royal Navy sailors. During the parade, Big Ben will ring according to the Queen's New Year. After the funeral procession arrived at Paddington Railway Station, the coffin and royal members and officials took the train to Windsor, where they lined up again to Windsor Castle.
■The Queen's children held a prince's vigil ceremony in Westminster Hall, and British people coming to pay their respects can be seen on both sides.
Finally, a funeral ceremony was held at St. George's Church in Windsor Castle, and the first supervisor of the Order of the Guardian House will use a traditional quaint hymn to express the praise of the late monarch. After the coffin is placed in the tomb, the Minister of the Palace will break the white scepter , which symbolizes his power in accordance with the tradition, meaning that he has ended his service to the late monarch.
Elizabeth II will be buried in the Memorial Church of King George VI, and will be with her parents, husband and sister.
■ Located in St. George's Cathedral in Windsor Castle, the Queen's burial ceremony is held here.
What is the origin of the British state funeral? The formation of the British state funeral ceremony can be traced back to the Tudor dynasty period. At that time, after the British monarch died, a funeral parade was held. The coffin was transported by a carriage. The mourners included royal members, court ministers, and nobles and knights. They all wore black mourning clothes and held heraldic flags indicating their identity and followed the coffin carriage. The coffin was covered with ornate embroidered coffin covers, and sometimes a statue of the deceased king was erected. However, this practice was later changed to place the crown on the coffin.
This medieval style heraldic funeral ceremony was maintained until the end of the 19th century, and some new elements were added with the changes of the times, such as gunfire and music, and the funeral staff gradually expanded from palace aristocrats to parliament members and government officials.
■A painting depicting the funeral of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, reflecting the form of the state funeral at that time.
The major changes in the British state funeral ceremony took place in the Victorian era. Queen Victoria was the longest-reigning monarch at that time and was known as the "Grandmother of Europe", so her funeral was naturally extremely grand. More importantly, Queen Victoria personally set new rules for her funeral during her lifetime.
First of all, she did not like black, so she greatly reduced the black elements at the funeral, such as black curtains, black curtains, etc., and even her coffin was white; secondly, she hoped to be buried as the "daughter of a soldier", adding many military elements to the funeral, making the funeral ceremony more like a military parade, and she also set a precedent for transporting the coffin with a cannon truck.
However, there was a small accident at the funeral, and the horse that pulled the cannon cart was frightened and ran away. So a team of sailors were temporarily transferred to take over the horse to drag the cannon cart, which became a routine that was inherited by the subsequent state funeral.
■The grand scene of the Queen Victoria State Funeral in England in 1901 also laid the basic form of the subsequent state funeral.
After Queen Victoria, the state funerals of British monarchs were basically held in accordance with the above rules, but other new links or ceremonies were added. For example, when Edward VII died in 1910, the Westminster Hall where the coffin was parked was opened to the public for condolences. At that time, more than 250,000 people came to express their grief. Big Ben was also started by Edward VII when the bell ringed according to the age of the monarch. The rule of the prince's vigil was established at the funeral of George V in 1936, and the state funeral ceremony of George V in 1952 was broadcast live to the public through TV for the first time, which caused the sales of British TV at that time to soar!
■The funeral procession during the state funeral of King Edward VII of England in 1910, pay attention to the coffin and cannon trucks pulled by sailors.
Who can enjoy the state funeral?
In the UK, state funerals are usually only held for the deceased monarch. Even the monarch's spouse or other royal members cannot enjoy state funeral treatment. For example, Elizabeth II's mother Queen Mother Elizabeth , husband Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip , Princess Wales , Diana, etc., did not hold state funerals. Before Elizabeth II, the most recent state funeral held for the monarch in Britain was the death of George VI in 1952.
Since the death of the founding monarch of the Hanover dynasty of England, George I, in 1727, in the past 295 years, only one British monarch has not received state funeral treatment, that is, the Edward VIII, who did not love the country and the beauty, and was willing to give up the throne in order to marry his mistress, Mrs. Simpson. This is understandable, after all, he did not die as a king.
■The state funeral of George VI of England in 1952 was covered with the royal flag on the coffin, and crowns, scepters and other objects were placed.
In addition to the reign of the monarch, state funerals can also be held for a few outstanding figures with special contributions with approval from the king to reflect the country's praise and gratitude for their outstanding achievements. Most of these figures are political leaders, military commanders or top figures in certain fields.
3 Non-royal people who can enjoy state funeral treatment are naturally heroes in British history and even in world history, such as Isaac Newton , the founder of modern physics and astronomy, Admiral Horacho Nelson, who sacrificed his life for the country in Trafalgar Naval Battle , Duke Wellington who defeated Napoleon on the battlefield of Waterloo, politician William Gladston, who served as prime minister four times, and the recent non-royal person who received state funeral was Winston Churchill , who led Britain to win World War II.
Such state funerals require the use of national finance, so they need to be approved by the parliament.
■ At the 1965 Winston Churchill's state funeral, pay attention to the guards on both sides of the cannon carriage holding guns upside down to show their condolences.
In addition to the above two types of people, other high-ranking royal members or public figures with prestigious and outstanding achievements can enjoy a ritual funeral that is slightly lower than the state funeral. For example, the previously mentioned Queen Mother Elizabeth, Princess Diana, and Prince Philip were all buried at the funeral ceremony.
■The funeral site of Princess Diana in 1997, her coffin cannon cart was led by horses from the Royal Horse Riding Artillery Regiment.
The specifications of ritual funerals are second only to state funerals. In fact, there is no obvious difference in many contents of the two. The main difference is that the cost of ritual funerals is entirely paid by the government, while most of the costs of ritual funerals are paid by the royal family.
In the details of the ceremony, the cannon carriage carrying the coffin on the state funeral was pulled by the naval sailors, and horses were pulled at the funeral. However, there are exceptions to this rule. In 1979, the naval sailors were dragging the cannon carriage for him. This was mainly considered to consider the special arrangement made by Mountbatten for long-term service in the navy.
State funeral is organized and implemented by the Minister of Court Ceremony, the President of the Court of Armor and his subordinates, while the funeral is organized and implemented by the Minister of Palace Affairs. The president of the Heraldry House is a civil servant of the state, while the Minister of Palace Affairs is a member of the royal family. In addition, there are also differences in the format of the proclamations and eulogies used in state funerals and ritual funerals.
■In 1979, Earl of Mountbatten made an exception to use sailors to pull coffin and cannon trucks.
There is no doubt that it is absolutely a noble courtesy to be buried with the state funeral ceremony after death. However, in British history, two people refused the treatment of state funeral.
The first was the famous politician who was as famous as Gladstone in the late 19th century, Benjamin Disraelli . He explicitly refused to hold a state funeral in his will.
The second one is the familiar " Iron Lady " Mrs. Margaret Thatcher. Before she died, she learned that she would receive a state funeral and expressed her unwillingness to accept it, but she agreed to hold a funeral.
■In 2013, the coffin of the late former Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher was carried into the Cathedral of St. Paul, and she refused the state funeral during her lifetime.
