Eight guardsmen will carry Queen Elizabeth II's coffin into Westminster Abbey on Monday, bearing on their shoulders not only their monarch but the weight of a nation’s expectation of a fitting send-off for the ruler of 70 years.
Behind them will be hundreds of years of tradition, culminating in a ceremony of pomp and pageantry perhaps without equal worldwide, a golden thread over generations of British royal ritual.
With the eyes of the world on Britain, rehearsals have been intense to avoid any mishaps, something the organisers know from experience happen on the spur of the moment but can remain a talking point for a century or more.
Not all past state obsequies have gone without setbacks. During Queen Victoria’s state funeral in 1901, a splinter bar on the gun carriage snapped, causing a horse to bolt. Royal Navy ratings stepped in and dragged the coffin with ropes. The poignancy of that moment has meant a similar pulling of the gun carriage has been repeated in every state funeral since.
But worse misfortune fell on some mourners at Admiral Horatio Nelson’s state funeral in 1806, when a stand in St Paul’s Cathedral collapsed, injuring several people.
Now, so much attention is given to detail, with every drill rehearsed and rehearsed again, that the service should go smoothly, especially with the dedication of those men bearing the heavy lead and oak coffin, officers involved in the ceremony have told The National.
“The Sovereign’s Company of the Grenadiers have a very, very close relationship with the monarch,” said Lieutenant Colonel Charlie Foinette of the Coldstream Guards, who will be standing vigil over the queen’s coffin on Saturday and Sunday.
“All guardsmen feel a very close connection to the monarch and this is an opportunity to pay our final respects. It is a sacred duty, incredibly important to all of us, and will reflect the standards that the nation expects. It is a tremendous honour.”
So far, the long-planned 10-day period of events has appeared pitch-perfect. What does that say about Britain and its ability to mount faultless pageantry?
General Lord David Richards, who commanded the British armed forces from 2010 to 2013, believes it is the crown’s 1,000 years history has embedded pageantry “in our blood”.
“What we'll watch in the next few days has been established over hundreds and hundreds of years," he says. "It’s in our genes. That's one reason we can so seamlessly transition from one monarch to another, that we can say ‘the queen is dead, long live the king.’”
The queen's state funeral will be the biggest single event staged by Britain since the Second World War, bringing an intense focus on all involved.
“It’s a very important, soft-power element of British prowess and influence on the world stage,” said Gen Richards. “It actually reminds people that we have a great history and not to write us off in the future.”
Part of that history has been on display since the queen died at Balmoral Castle last Thursday.
To the fore have come such quirks as the Royal Company of Archers, formed in 1676, or The Company of Pikemen and Musketeers, from the same century, both part of the fabric of the king’s accession.
Other unusual sights have appeared. On Saturday, for instance, the guardsmen who removed their bearskin hats after the Privy Council’s formal accession of King Charles III, dropped to one knee, laid down their rifles then stood balancing bearskins on right shoulders and gave three cries of “God Save the King”.
In Parliament, a black sword kept for sovereign funerals has appeared at the waist of the Serjeant at Arms. On Monday evening the Lord Chamberlain, head of the royal household, will break his official staff over the queen’s grave in Windsor.
The attention to detail in the planning and conduct of the service would be well received by the queen, who attended countless ceremonies from Trooping the Colour to welcoming heads of state.
This gave her the authority to let it be known if she thought things were not quite up to the mark, former Blues and Royals officer Luke Chauveau told The National.
“We were doing a ceremony escorting Her Majesty from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards and she was watching out of sight inspecting us from the top floor of the palace before she came out,” he said. “Her Majesty then picked up that the distance of divisions between our horses wasn't as good as it used to be and gave an amazingly sharp analysis of our performance that day. After that the distance was then shortened and worked well.”
The Household Cavalry will not be there merely for display. At an undisclosed location in England, realistic training goes into protecting the sovereign with troopers taught to use their swords and their horses to physically protect the monarch.
The Blues and Royals, the regiment in which Princes William and Harry both served as officers, also come with their own quirks. If by chance a cavalryman was to lose his helmet, he could still make a salute “without headdress” as it is the only regiment in the British army with this privilege. In 1743 at the Battle of Dettingen, its commanding officer conducted an exemplary action, then rode up to King George II to announce the French were on the run, losing his ceremonial wig in the process. The king was so impressed with the news and display of courage, that he granted the regiment its salute honour, which to this day causes consternation among sergeant majors unaware of its provenance.
Dettingen was the last time a British monarch led soldiers in combat, but the dedication of troops to their sovereign remains undiminished.
That will become clear on Monday morning when the 4,000 soldiers, sailors, marines and air force personnel parade one last time for their queen.
“I think you'll find every single soldier will be an inch taller on the day,” said Col Chauveau. “There's not a single one who will care if they say during rehearsals ‘let’s run that again’, even if they’ve done it 17 times. They'll want to get it absolutely right, they'll want to make sure it's fitting for Her Majesty and the Colonel-in Chief, we all served.”
That detail to preparation was reflected by Col Foinette, who during his interview with The National wore his bearskin hat to reshape it to his head and get used to its weight before his first six-hour vigil on Saturday.
He emphasised the importance of the military to Britain’s standing. “We might not be one of the biggest and most powerful of nations, but this is one of the areas that we do something that is a bit special,” he said. “This has evolved over 1,000 years and works remarkably well, personnel understand exactly the requirements of their roles and try to do them as well as they can. The national expectation is that this is how we should do things properly.
“It’s been a remarkable week in Britain, we've changed our prime minister and our sovereign and it's all happened as if it’s a matter of entirely routine.”
In the coming hours, the final tweaks will be made to preparations, with boots and buttons polished. Nerves will be strained and sleep difficult to come by as “you just desperately want to get it absolutely right”, said Col Foinette. “You wouldn't be human if you didn't imagine things that could go wrong, but everyone’s very well-trained and part of their ability is to recover when things do go awry.”
Ultimately, the state funeral will prove a fitting adieu to the monarch who did so much for her country during her 70-year reign.
“It will keep a Great Britain in the same high regard that our monarch was held,” said Col Chauveau. “Throughout the rest of the world people will see perfection in our ceremony and expect nothing less because that’s representative of exactly what Her Majesty stood for.”
The UK mourns Queen Elizabeth II - in pictures
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
INDIA'S%20TOP%20INFLUENCERS
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Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
Quick%20facts
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Keep it fun and engaging
Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.
“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.
His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.
He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.
The five pillars of Islam
In Full Flight: A Story of Africa and Atonement
John Heminway, Knopff
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Paresh Rawal, Anushka Sharma, Manish’s Koirala, Dia Mirza, Sonam Kapoor, Jim Sarbh, Boman Irani
Rating: 3.5 stars
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.