What is a state funeral?
STATE funerals are held to honour people of national significance.
Since 1901, just nine state funerals have taken place in the UK - including that of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.
What is a state funeral?
A state funeral is a public ceremony held to honour people of huge importance in their country.
In the UK it is most often used for monarchs.
They are generally held in order to involve members of the public in a national day of mourning.
State funerals can also be held for highly distinguished figures with the approval of the monarch and Parliament.
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, it had been 64 years since a monarch was last buried.
The strict instructions she left regarding the service and ceremonies set a precedent for state funerals held since.
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In the past century, state funerals have generally seen the coffin conveyed to Westminster Hall in a horse-drawn gun carriage, where the body lies in state for around three days.
This would be followed by a large procession to Windsor, where a funeral service, and in most cases, the burial takes places at St George's Chapel.
But in keeping with the Duke’s no-fuss public image, he asked not to be given a full state funeral, but instead followed Princess Diana and the Queen Mother in having a ceremonial funeral.
Had the Duke of Edinburgh requested a state funeral, it would have likely involved a military procession to Westminster Abbey where his body would lie in state for members of the public to pay their respects.
A service at either Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral would have followed, before burial in St George’s Chapel.
The last state funeral for a member of the Royal Family took place in 1952 following the death of King George VI.
Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022 will, according to tradition, be a state funeral, a rare honour mostly reserved for the sovereign.
The only monarch not to be given a state funeral in the last 295 years was Edward VIII, who abdicated.
Who has had a state funeral in the UK?
Royal state funerals since 1901:
- Queen Victoria - 1901 (Service: St George's Chapel, Windsor, burial: Royal Mausoleum, Frogmore)
- King Edward VII - 1910 (Service and burial: St George's Chapel, Windsor)
- King George V - 1936 (Service and burial: St George's Chapel, Windsor)
- King George VI - 1952 (Service and burial: St George's Chapel, Windsor)
State funerals of other notable figures since 1901:
- Earl Roberts of Kandahar - 1914 (Service and burial: St Paul's Cathedral)
- Edith Cavell - 1919 (Service: Westminster Abbey, burial: Norwich Cathedral)
- Earl Haig - 1928 (Service: Westminster Abbey, burial: Dryburgh Abbey)
- Lord Carson - 1935 (Service and burial: St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast)
- Sir Winston Churchill - 1965 (Service: St Paul's Cathedral, burial: St Martin's Church, Bladon)
What is the difference between a state funeral and a ceremonial funeral?
Unlike state funerals, ceremonial funerals do not require parliamentary approval and funding.
While state and ceremonial funerals share many of the same characteristics, ceremonial ones can be more private.
A ceremonial funeral, like a state funeral, often has a lying in state, a procession with a gun carriage and military contingents.
The funerals of Princess Diana, The Queen Mother and Margaret Thatcher and Prince Philip were all ceremonial rather than state.
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State funerals, like coronations, are organised and overseen by the Earl Marshal and his officers.
But they are less involved in royal ceremonial funerals, which fall under the Lord Chamberlain's watch.