TIME HONOURED TRADITION
Inside the royal funeral day tradition which dates back more than 120 years
ROYAL Navy sailors will haul the Queen’s coffin to her funeral by hand in a tradition that began 121 years ago.
The Senior Service earned the honour in 1901 after horses set to pull Queen Victoria’s coffin reared up and had to be replaced.
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Navy Captain Prince Louis of Battenburg asked the new King Edward VII to let his sailors save the day, at Windsor Royal Station on February 2.
The king agreed and Louis, who was married to King Edward’s niece, issued the historic order: “Ground arms and stand by to drag the gun carriage.”
On Monday, 138 sailors will take the ropes to draw the 2.5-ton wooden carriage to Westminster Abbey.
After the funeral service they will haul the carriage to Wellington Arch where the coffin will be placed in the state hearse and driven to Windsor.
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Accounts of the Navy stepping in in 1901 describe how the horses were unharnessed “within minutes” and improvised ropes were lashed to the carriage.
Crowds watched as Victoria’s coffin was hauled through Windsor.
Sailors did the same for King Edward VII in 1910.
By then the Navy said, “the drill had been formalised and the honour of hauling the carriage has remained with the Royal Navy ever since”.
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The State Funeral Gun Carriage was built in the late 1890s to carry a breech-loading 12-pounder gun and has been used at every state funeral since.
Today the carriage is among the Navy’s most prized possessions.
It was never used in conflict and was later fitted with tyres and a catafalque — a platform to carry a coffin — which sits above the gun's highly-polished barrel.
Sailors used the carriage to pull the coffins of King George V in 1936, King George VI in 1952 and wartime PM Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.
It was last used to convey the remains of Lord Louis Mountbatten, the son of Prince Louis, when he was honoured with a ceremonial funeral after his murder by the IRA in 1979.
The carriage is kept on constant stand-by, suspended off the ground in a temperature and humidity controlled environment to stop it rotting or drying out at the Navy’s Portsmouth HQ.
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Chief custodian Lt-Cdr Paul Barker polishes the carriage once a week and moves each wheel a quarter turn “to stop them going egg-shaped due to the weight of gravity”.
Stephen Prince, head of the Navy’s historical branch, said of Monday: “It’s probably going to be the biggest state funeral ever, in terms of people and world leaders attending.”
Ninety-eight junior ratings known as the Sovereign’s Guard will march in front of the carriage pulling it on four hand lines.
Another 40 sailors behind the carriage will march with handlines to act as a brake.
The sailors were drawn from across the Navy and brought to HMS Collingwood, a shore base in Fareham, Hants, for training with the Navy’s specialist State Ceremonial Team.
The Sun joined them on their parade ground as they put the finishing touches to rehearsals — which involved using a Union Jack in place of the Royal Standard.
Able Seaman Murray Kerr, 20, from Ayr, said he spent 12 hours — often in pouring rain — getting the drills up to scratch.
He gave up a job as a warehouse worker to join the Navy earlier this year.
He said: “I never thought I would get to do something like this. I thought there would be people more qualified than me.
"Now I feel a responsibility to give something back to this woman who dedicated her life to this country. She was my boss.
“It’s one of the biggest moments of not just this century so far but the last century too.
“I can tell my grandchildren and inspire them to do similar things.”
'She was my boss'
The sailors had to pass a drill inspection by the new King’s Household Division led by Major General Christopher Ghika.
He said: “The eyes of the world will be upon us. I’m expecting everybody on parade will deliver a spectacular performance which will do tribute to the Queen.”
Navy Commander Steve Elliott, the carriage team’s second-in-command, insisted the outcome of the inspection was never in doubt.
He said: “We always knew we were going to meet the standard. They left happy.”
The funeral march marks the final duty for Cdr Elliott after a 32-year career.
He told The Sun: “As a last duty for my Queen and country, it’s a bit emotional, an amazing honour and privilege.”
He met the Queen in 2017 when he became the first naval officer to captain a Queen’s Guard since Sir Walter Raleigh protected Queen Elizabeth I some 414 years earlier.
Cdr Elliott’s sailors provided a guard at four royal residences including Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
When he met the Queen at Windsor, he said she told him with a twinkle in her eye: “It is always nice to be looked after by the Senior Service.”
Cdr Elliott will march with Capt Catherine Jordan, the commander of HMS Collingwood, in front of the sailors pulling the carriage.
Capt Jordan said: “Everyone wants to do their duty for someone who did their duty for such a long time.
“The team is really motivated. They understand how serious the task is. They want to get it right.”
'Eyes of the world'
They will be at heart of a funeral procession of 2,089 troops including soldiers from Commonwealth nations and Royal Air Force personnel.
Rear Admiral Jude Terry, the Navy’s director of people and training, said it was all about “saying thank you to our Queen”.
She said: “All of us have been working for her throughout our careers. It’s an enormous privilege to be able to say goodbye.”
Sailors in the Sovereign’s Guard will be flanked by the King’s Bodyguard — including Foot Guards and Household Cavalry, the Bands of the Scots and Grenadier guards and a tri-service honour guard.
Around 1,000 Navy personnel were involved across all the ceremonies, Capt Jordan said, with another 400 assigned to help police steward the events.
Among them is Able Seaman Ryan Howarth, 25, who joined the Navy only in February.
He is due to line the route, facing the coffin with his back to the crowd.
He said: “It feels shocking. When I joined I’d never think I’d be able to do something like this.”
Police have the lead for crowd control on the day but the sailors have been warned to watch out “in case the crowd gets rowdy”.
He has been told he could stand on one spot for six hours.
As the coffin approaches he will move from “at ease” to bowing his head with his SA80 assault rifle pointed down.
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As it passes he will be ordered to perform a “royal salute”.
He said: “It’s a big honour.”
2.5 Tonnes of history
- THE Royal Navy’s State Funeral Gun Carriage never saw active service.
- IT was fitted with a coffin platform for ceremonial duties in 1899.
- MADE of wood with metal fixtures and rubber tyres, it weighs 2.5tonnes.
- IT is suspended in high humidity on HMS Excellent in Portsmouth to prevent rot or desiccation.
- THE gun will get its first refurbishment in almost 40 years after the funeral.
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