More than five decades have passed since the last time a state funeral was held in the UK.
Wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill was the last person to be given the full honours upon their death. That may be surprising, as pomp and ceremony were not in short supply for funerals of figures like Prince Philip, Princess Diana and the Queen Mother, but they were not granted state funerals, they had 'ceremonial funerals' which are similar but not exactly the same.
A House of Commons Library note on the arrangments for state and ceremonial funerals explains the difference: "A state funeral is commonly held to differ from a ceremonial funeral in two respects: a parliamentary motion authorises it, and the gun carriage bearing the coffin to the lying in state has, since the funeral of Queen Victoria, been drawn by Royal Navy sailors rather than by horses."
