The tradition goes back centuries and began with a practical thought: to help the bodies of dead monarchs remain pristine, especially before modern preservation techniques. Queen Elizabeth II has been laid to rest after a historic state funeral As a material in coffins, “lead helps retain moisture and preserve the body longer and prevent odors and toxins from escaping a dead body,” said Julie Ann Tadeo, a research professor of history at the University of Maryland. “Her coffin was exposed for many days and made a long journey to its final resting place.” Taddeo noted that the added weight created the need for eight veterans instead of the usual six. Soldiers carry the coffins of dead British monarchs, following an incident in 1901 when the horses pulling Queen Victoria’s hearse spooked and her coffin nearly spilled onto the road. Winston Churchill, who received the last state funeral in Britain before Elizabeth on Monday, also had a lead-lined coffin. It was so heavy that it slipped off the shoulders of some of the veterans when they had to stop on some steps, one of the passengers, Lincoln Perkins, told the BBC. When he fell on the two “pushers” in the back to keep the casket from falling, Perkins said, he said loudly to the corpse, “Don’t worry, sir, we’ll take care of you.” Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin traveled from Westminster Hall to Wellington Arch and her final resting place, Windsor Castle, for her state funeral on September 19. (Video: Alexa Juliana Ard/The Washington Post) “You could really feel him slide off the shoulders,” Perkins said. “If we had dropped him… I don’t know what it would have been, very embarrassing, but we didn’t.” Queen Elizabeth II, who reigned in the United Kingdom for 70 years, has died aged 96 Elizabeth’s coffin was laid to rest on Monday night in a vault at the King George VI Memorial, part of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. She rests next to her parents, sister and Prince Philip, her husband, who died last year. Preservation measures are reminiscent of those used for ancient high-ranking Egyptians, who were also placed in chambers rather than buried in the ground and whose bodies were immaculately preserved. And while wealthy ancient Egyptians were often buried with caches of jewelry, sculptures and other items, Taddeo said, the queen was reported to have been buried with only her wedding band, made of Welsh gold, and a pair of pearl earrings. Such austerity would mean that Elizabeth, who was known to embrace austerity and austerity, was buried with fewer possessions than some of her predecessors. Queen Victoria was buried with her husband’s robe and a cast of his hand, and a tuft of hair and a photo of her favorite servant, with whom she was rumored to have had a romantic relationship, Taddeo said. Elizabeth’s orb, scepter and crown — made of nearly 3,000 diamonds and dozens of other jewels — were removed from the top of her coffin and placed on an altar during her burial. Epic queue for Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin had more than 250,000 people The use of lead in coffins is “a long-standing royal tradition,” said Mike Parker Pearson, a professor at the Institute of Archeology at University College London. He said the embalmed body of King Edward I, who died in 1307, “was found in 1774 well preserved in his marble sarcophagus” in Westminster Abbey. Pearson added that the practice of using lead was probably adopted around the time of Edward’s death or in the century that followed. Earlier kings were not embalmed, he said. The corpse of William the Conqueror, who died in 1087, was apparently so badly decomposed that his bloated abdomen exploded when priests tried to place his body in “a stone coffin which proved too small for his bulk”, said the Pearson. “Mourners supposedly ran for the door to escape the putrid stench.” William’s swollen bowels burst and an unbearable stench assailed the nostrils of the bystanders and the entire crowd, according to Orderic Vitalis, a Benedictine monk who chronicled Anglo-Norman England.
