A
state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of
protocol, held to honor
heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition. Generally, state funerals are held in order to involve the general public in a
national day of mourning after the family of the deceased gives consent. A state funeral will often generate mass publicity from both national and global media outlets, such as state funerals undertaken in the United Kingdom as well as
state funerals in the United States.
A state funeral consists of a military procession using a gun carriage from the private resting chapel to Westminster Hall, where the body usually lies in state for three days. This is then followed by a funeral service at Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral. Many of the features of a state funeral are shared by other types of funeral—a Royal Ceremonial funeral (for example, that of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother) often has a lying in state and Westminster Abbey service. The real distinction between a state funeral and a ceremonial funeral is that a state funeral requires a motion or vote in Parliament. However, the visual distinction usually referred to is that in a state funeral, the gun carriage bearing the coffin is drawn by sailors from the Royal Navy rather than horses.[1] This tradition dates from the funeral of Queen Victoria; the horses drawing the gun carriage bolted, and so ratings from the Royal Navy hauled it to the Royal Chapel at Windsor. During the lying in state, the coffin rests on a catafalque in the middle of Westminster Hall. Each corner is guarded by various units of the Sovereign's Bodyguard or the Household Division. However, on some occasions (most notably the funerals of King George V and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother), male members of the Royal Family have mounted the guard, in what has become known as the Vigil of the Princes. For George V, his four sons King Edward VIII, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent stood guard. For the Queen Mother, her grandsons The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex and Viscount Linley took post.[2]
The honour of a state funeral is usually reserved for the Sovereign as Head of State and the current or past consort. Few others have had them
The most recent state funeral for someone outside the Royal Family was that of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965. The only difference between his state funeral and that of the Sovereign was the gun salute prime ministers get a 19-gun salute, as a head of government; the sovereign receives the full 21-gun salute, as head of state.
