THE GUN CARRIAGE

Her Majesty’s coffin was taken from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey by the state gun carriage, which was drawn by 142 Royal Navy service personnel.

The tradition of a gun carriage to transport a monarch’s body to its final resting place began with Queen Victoria in 1901. She wanted her funeral to include military elements and to be buried as a soldier’s daughter as a nod to her father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, who was a successful British general.

Since then the carriage – which weighs 3 000kg – has been used in the funerals of King Edward VII (Victoria’s son), King George V, King George VI and Winston Churchill.