A historic act that has never been seen by the public before was aired today as part of the Queen's funeral. The Breaking of the Wand of Office takes place when the reign passes from one monarch to the next, and will have happened during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth's father, King George VI.
But as his funeral was in 1952 it wasn't televised, so very few people alive today had ever seen the Breaking of the Wand of Office. That is, until now - as at around 16.45, during the committal service of Her Majesty's funeral, the staff was broken as Wales Live reports. The wand belongs to Lord Chamberlain, in this case former MI5 chief Lord Parker of Minsmere, and the breaking of the wand signifies the end of his service to the Queen as sovereign.
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The Wand of Office is a thin staff and ceremonial tool that was once used to provide discipline to courtiers.
The breaking of this staff signifies the end of Lord Chamberlain's service to the Queen as sovereign. King Charles III will now appoint his own Lord Chamberlain to run the role under his new duties as monarch.
Historian David Cannadine was interviewed by the BBC and said: "We will never have seen this before because no committal has ever been televised. We will see the Lord Chamberlain break his wand for the first time ever."
Meanwhile, people from around the world have been glued to the TV screen today as the Queen's funeral is broadcast, but one man found himself the unexpected focus for many viewers who began posting relentlessly about him on social media.
The man in question had dropped a white piece of paper and it landed right next to Her Majesty' s coffin and laid there throughout most of the service.
Shortly after it fell, social media users began posting about the piece of paper as one Twitter user joked dropping it would "haunt" whoever dropped it "for the rest of their lives".
Eventually, it was moved away - but not before it was seen before billions of people, as the televised funeral is expected to be the most watched TV moment in history.
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