State funerals in the United Kingdom

For funerals paid for by the British state commonly known as "pauper's funerals" or "welfare funerals", see Public health funeral. For funerals under the English Poor Laws, see Pauper's funeral.
Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, 2022. The coffin is borne on the Royal Navy State Funeral Gun Carriage, drawn by sailors of the Royal Navy. The coffin, draped with the Royal Standard, has the crown, orb and sceptre. Alongside the late Queen's equerries march the Gentlemen at Arms with axes reversed.

In the United Kingdom, state funerals are usually reserved for monarchs. The most recent was the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022.[1]

A state funeral may also be held to honour a highly distinguished figure following the approval of the monarch and Parliament (of the expenditure of public funds).[2] The last non-royal state funeral in the United Kingdom was that of Sir Winston Churchill on 30 January 1965.[3]

Other funerals, including those of senior members of the British royal family and high-ranking public figures, may share many of the characteristics of a state funeral without being categorised as such; for these, the term 'ceremonial funeral' is used. In the past fifty years, ceremonial funerals have been held for Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1979); Diana, Princess of Wales (1997); Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (2002); Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (2013);[2] and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (2021). Ceremonial funerals have tended in general to follow the ritual patterns of a state funeral (if on a somewhat smaller scale).

A gun carriage has been used to transport the coffin between locations since Queen Victoria's funeral (1901); it is also accompanied by a procession of military bands and detachments along with mourners and other officials. There may also be a lying in state and other associated ceremonies.[4]

  1. ^ Kirsty.Oram (2022-09-17). "The Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II". The Royal Family. Retrieved 2022-09-19.
  2. ^ a b "House of Commons briefing paper, 2013" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2015-06-09.
  3. ^ Croft, Rodney J. (2014). Churchill's Final Farewell: The State and Private Funeral of Sir Winston Churchill. Croft Publishing.[page needed]
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Bland1986 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).