Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin arrived in London on Tuesday from Edinburgh, ahead of her state funeral. The late monarch died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland last week. It was 96. Like the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in 2021, the Queen will be buried in an English oak coffin with brass handles designed more than 30 years ago and lined with lead. The practice of burying kings in lead-lined coffins dates back hundreds of years. As members of the royal family are buried in a chamber, rather than directly in the ground, their coffins are lined with lead to slow decay. Lead seals the coffin and prevents moisture from entering, preserving the body for up to a year. The practice dates back to the Victorian era, when an airtight seal on a coffin was necessary to avoid the powerful effects of putrefaction in above-ground burials. Members of the royal family and English aristocracy have used lead-lined coffins for at least four centuries. According to Westminster Abbey records, Queen Elizabeth I and King Charles II were buried in lead-lined coffins, as were Princess Diana, Sir Winston Churchill and Sir Francis Drake. The combination of lead and oak makes for a heavy casket, so heavy in fact, it is reported that it would take eight military pallbearers to lift Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin. The Queen will lie in state from Wednesday at Westminster Hall until the funeral. Her coffin will be draped in the Royal Standard and topped with the Imperial State Crown, Sovereign’s Orb and Sovereign’s Scepter with Cross. After the funeral, the Queen will be buried in the George VI Memorial at Windsor Castle, alongside King George VI, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret. Once there, Prince Philip’s coffin will be exhumed in the coming weeks and moved from the Royal Vault to the George VI Memorial to lie beside him.
