The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be held today, with her coffin being transported from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey.
It will be carried by a gun carriage that is over 120 years old, accompanied by more than 100 Royal Navy sailors.
This is an historic Royal tradition that dates back to the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
The Royal Family will also be part of the procession, with King Charles III, Prince William and Prince Harry, among others, following behind.
Here is everything you need to know about The State Gun Carriage and its use during Royal funerals.
What is The State Gun Carriage?
The State Gun Carriage is a field gun carriage that has been in the care of the Royal Navy since 1901, making it 123 years old.
It was originally removed from active service for the funeral of Queen Victoria that year and has remained an important part of state funerals since.
The gun carriage has also been previously used for the funerals of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Winston Churchill, and Lord Louis Mountbatten – all of which were state funerals.
It will be drawn by Royal Naval Ratings, 142 in total, who are all service personnel. The carriage itself is stored at HMS Excellent on Whale Island in Portsmouth.
Lieutenant Commander Paul ‘Ronnie’ Barker it its custodian, who said: “The gun carriage lives in an environmentally-controlled room in HMS Excellent so we try to keep it at a constant temperature and weekly I go in and turn the wheels a quarter turn to stop them from going egg-shaped with gravity and lots and lots of polishing.
“In preparation for this event we have increased that polishing 10-fold – if you look at the gun carriage, the barrel itself hasn’t been chromed, that’s years and years of polishing and lots and lots of elbow grease.
“I tend to get upset if I see a new scratch, so I have probably crawled over every single part of it in the past four or five years.”
Why was The State Gun Carriage first used?
During the day of Queen Victoria's funeral procession in 1901, her coffin was supposed to be carried by horses through Windsor, as had been done for generations before her.
However, the weather that day took a turn, with reports it was freezing cold, causing the horses to rear up.
Captain Prince Louis of Battenberg who would be the future First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy, suggested to the newly appointed monarch, Edward VII, that his sailors should pull the carriage instead.
And so began a tradition that lives on to this day, as just nine years after Queen Victoria's death, Edward VII passed away as well.
The sailors were used once more, cementing the tradition for all future state funerals.
What time is the Queen’s funeral?
At 6.30am, the lying-in-state at the Palace of Westminster will close its doors to the public so preparations for the events of the day can begin.
Then, at 8am, Westminster Abbey will open for invited attendees for the funeral.
The service itself is planned to begin at 11am, with The State Gun Carriage scheduled to commence its journey at 10.44am.
The procession, which will also involve around 200 musicians, including the pipes and drums from the Scottish and Irish Regiments, it expected to last no more than 10 minutes.
The service itself will last around an hour, with the dean of Westminster conducting it.
There will be readings by Prime Minister Liz Truss and Patricia Scotland, the secretary general of the Commonwealth.
The archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby, will give the sermon.
There will be a two minutes silence at 12pm, around the time the service ends, followed by a procession to Wellington Arch near Hyde Park.
The coffin will then be transported to Windsor for the Queen’s final resting place.
