The most delicate task fell to eight soldiers from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, who first had to lift the coffin with precision from its resting place in Westminster Hall and transplant it to the gun carriage. Minutes later, they had to do it again, lifting the coffin from the carriage outside Westminster Abbey, hoisting it on their shoulders and carrying it into the heart of the ancient church as they walked around the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in the nave. But the most demanding task came in the afternoon, when the pallbearer had to carry the coffin up three short steps into St George’s Chapel in Windsor, aided by a single steady hand from a ninth soldier at the rear, the most close to a tense moment on a day when events unfolded according to schedule. The Ministry of Defense said it was not releasing the names of those assigned to carry the casket, although they came from the company specifically tasked with protecting the monarch’s body in both life and death. At some point in the future, King Charles will order the unit’s name to be changed. Royal Navy sailors walk in front and behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it travels from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch in London. Photo: Reuters The task of pulling and securing the coffin with a system of white ropes while atop the 300kg gun carriage on the journey to the abbey and beyond to Buckingham Palace was carried out by 142 sailors and six officers who received specialist funeral rhythm. 75 steps per minute. Sailors from naval bases around the UK were tasked with pulling the carriage from Queen Victoria’s funeral in 1901. Panicked horses reared and threatened to topple the coffin, prompting a prince to suggest to King Edward VII that they take over the sailors instead. The improv of the day stuck. A total of 1,500 Britons took part in the procession from the abbey to Constitution Hill, although it was led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and 175 soldiers from New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Divided into seven parts, each with its own band, it included representatives of the army, navy and air force. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police led the funeral procession to Wellington Arch. Photo: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Among those who marched were Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defense staff, and the country’s three service chiefs. “Our role,” the armed forces chief said last week in an interview, is “to provide reassurance and stability,” noting that the change of monarch came just two days after the arrival of a new prime minister. Three thousand military personnel took part in the ceremonies in London, including 1,000 to return the routes and 380 to provide a guard of honor or other bands. A further 1,000 took part in receiving the Queen’s coffin at Windsor – and almost 200 horses at both locations, whose daily diet must consist of 12 to 15kg of hay.
