Ten soldiers from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, carried Her Majesty’s coffin which weighed 500lb (227Kg) in London and Windsor.
The Queen’s coffin was carried into The Palace of Westminster by guardsmen from The Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.
The Guardsmen who carried the Queen’s coffin during Monday’s state funeral won worldwide acclaim for their regal composure while the eyes of the world were on them.
Eight troops from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, bore the oak casket, draped in the Royal Standard, in London and Windsor.
An officer was positioned at the rear of the bearer party while a 10th member of the unit marched before Her Majesty’s lead-lined coffin, which weighed more than 500lb (227kg).
What squadron carried the coffin?
As commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, the Queen had strong links to the Grenadier Guards, the British Army’s most senior infantry regiment.
Wearing their distinctive scarlet tunics and black bearskins, they carry out high-profile ceremonial duties in London and at Windsor Castle.
They traditionally provide the pallbearers at state funerals for all monarchs.
On the day of the Queen’s death, the unit had been deployed on operations in Iraq, where they are training local forces to improve their fighting capability to counter Islamic State, but at least five of the bearer party returned the day after the Queen’s death to take part in the ceremonial events.
The British Army said the Grenadier Guards’ ‘very best soldiers’ had been chosen for the honor.
“It is the Queen’s Company who oversee the transition from one monarch to the next and undertake the exceptional role of guarding Her Majesty’s body in death too; for they have the honor of watching over her before the public lying-in-state,” the statement read.
“Their 12 very best soldiers will have been selected to provide the bearer party at Her Majesty’s funeral.”
The bearer party from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards during the Committal Service for the Queen at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Who were the soldiers?
Second Lieutenant Freddie Hobbs
Second Lieutenant Hobbs, 24, from West Sussex, was the Officer Commanding the bearer party.
He was positioned at the rear of the bearer party, from where he issued words of command.
He had returned from deployment in Iraq. The son of a former Grenadier Guards officer, he led the regiment’s detachment at the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant this year.
He joined the regular Army in January 2021, after being part of the Bristol University Officer Training Corps.
Second Lieutenant Freddie Hobbs was commanding the bearer party
Company Sergeant Major Dean Jones
Company Sergeant Major Jones, from Long Eaton, Derbyshire, has been in the Army for 19 years.
The married father of one, who has served in the unit his whole working life, walked in front of the Queen’s coffin.
Subscribe to our You tube channel at Switch TV.
A warrant officer, he met the Queen several times, including when she presented new colors to the company and completed two tours of Afghanistan and two in Iraq.
He is returning to operational duties straight after the funeral.
