Soldiers from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, carried the coffin draped in the Royal Standard as millions of people around the world watched the ceremony. The unit had a close relationship with the Queen – as the monarch’s servant she held the position of company commander and personally reviewed the company every ten years. The work of the eight veterans was celebrated by onlookers as they unfolded in Westminster and Windsor. Carla Lockhart, DUP MP for Upper Bann, said: “The weight of the world on their shoulders, the glare of the world on them, but they were flawless.” He added that they had done “themselves, their families and our country proud”. . Tory MP Tom Hunt said: “I can’t imagine how difficult and emotionally challenging it must have been to carry Her Late Majesty’s coffin just once. “They’ve done it time and time again this week. With billions watching. They did His Majesty and the country proud.” Presenter Lorraine Kelly said: “These lads were brilliant – such a difficult task was brilliantly executed.” The British Army says 12 of the Grenadier Guards’ “best soldiers” had been selected for the official duty of providing the party at Her Majesty’s funeral. Among those tasked with carrying the Queen’s coffin was 19-year-old Fletcher Cox from Jersey. Laura Terrin, a sergeant with the Jersey Army, says his former trainers were delighted and “incredibly proud” of the young man and his achievements. He told ITV News: “I’ve known Fletcher since he first started with the Cadets. He was always a very organized young man who lived and breathed Cadet. “He always knew he wanted to be in this line of work – it’s always been his passion and it’s so great to see it pay off.” Another young man who served as a pallbearer in Edinburgh, where the public was able to pay their respects to the Queen as she lay in repose, was Fiji Ben Tumuna of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Jersey teenager Fletcher Cox was one of those chosen to carry the Queen’s coffin, ITV News’ Alex Spiceley reports. “I feel great, I feel happy,” Ben’s father Semi Tubuna told ITV News from Fiji last week. “First time, for me, to hear that he is one who is chosen by a big country like this, I cry. “The whole nation of Fiji, I can say, we are all proud.” ITV News correspondent John Irvine spoke to Ben Tubuna’s proud family last week. The Queen’s Society will retain its name until the monarch is laid to rest and later change to reflect the new King. Former British Army soldier Major Adrian Weale said: “They became the Queen’s Company soon after George VI died and the Queen has been in command ever since. “Their role is to protect her body, both in life and in death, remaining the Queen’s Company until King Charles decides otherwise. “Their duties will then be transferred to the next monarch.” On the day the Queen died, the unit was deployed on operations in Iraq but returned to take part in the ceremonies. The Queen’s remarkable life was recalled in our latest episode of What You Need To Know.
