Those young men carrying Her Majesty's coffin must have been terrified.

[Minee]

I've never carried a coffin and imagine it must be an emotional and scary thing to do in normal circumstances, but imagine carrying the Queen. With the whole world watching too.

Hats off to them,

Dh carried his cousins coffin, he was only asked last minute but he felt it was an honour to be asked and the last thing he was ever able to do for him.

They have practised using the same weight of coffin many, many times. I am sure they felt the responsibility but were probably too focused on the task to worry about the cameras. Plus when you're there, it doesn't really feel like 20 million people are watching on TV!

You do realise her coffee will be lead lined and way an absolute tonne compared to a non-lined one.

Trained to carry the body of one of the most famous Monarchs to ever live in front of millions of people?

It sounds like you think there’s genuinely a good chance they could drop the coffin - there isn’t. It’s fairly simple.
Traffic collisions are more likely - maybe save your admiration and concern for the hearse driver??

I hadn’t but even so the lining will be thin and they’re young and strong. Divided between 6 of them I doubt it’s more than about 30-40kg each

Mil died recently and in the family there wasn't enough men to carry her coffin.
Dh, our son and another grandson from
Dh brother who is in a wheelchair.
Then it would be our grandson aged 13 attending his first funeral.
So what was arranged her coffin stayed on the trolley and son and grandsons plus our daughter and 3 granddaughters wheeled it to the alter steps then the funeral staff lifted her coffin on to the dias.

Really???

I don’t understand how someone could resent carrying a coffin of a loved family member, I would have thought it a huge honour to accompany them on their final journey, the last loving thing you can do for them.

I would hate to carry a coffin, I certainly wouldnt see it as an honour.

Not sure I like the subtle sexism within the thread from some posters about men should be seeing it as an honour.

However slightly off tangent, I wondered why we didnt get to see the coffin being taken out, the camera zoomed out, was there a reason for this?

Did anyone watch Prince Phillips funeral? A couple of those poor guys had very red faces by the time they'd got up all those steps!

Trained to carry the body of one of the most famous Monarchs to ever live in front of millions of people?

Yes, same way they train to carry their friends and colleagues that died.
There's an army documentary called guarding the queen following the regiment and showed them training how to carry the coffin, what to do, what steps to take, what their faces should look like etc. Practicing every part ahead of a funeral of someone who had died in iraq and how it was important it was basically second nature to them and that wasn't their time to grieve etc.

It's a very emotional thing though I'm not sure I could do it ,my uncle died at the start of the summer holidays ,his two sons ,two of his Grandchildren ,one of his daughters and one of his neices carried his coffin ,it was was lovely but very emotional.

I've sadly been to quite a few funerals in the last 2 years. The undertakers have provided pallbearers at all of them. I haven't seen any family member carry a coffin at any funeral I've been to in the last 40 years.

I had this conversation with my Mum earlier, no matter how well trained or physically strong they are they will have to have nerves of steel to carry out such a gigantic responsibility in public with millions of people watching. Apparently they will be wearing specially designed boots to avoid any risk of slipping. As someone who has suffered panic attacks before... fuck me... imagine one creeping up at a time like this where it would be impossible to give into. They are very brave men.

Yes, that's why they have so many paalbearers compared to an "ordinary" coffin.

Is it ? Does it matter ? Everyone is different . I didn't consider carrying my mum's coffin. I think it was wheeled in in fact. No idea.

I carried my Mum, along with my two brothers and oldest Nephew. It wasn’t heavy and was over in seconds really. It was the last thing I could do for her.

Why are people falling over themselves to signal that they’re in some way superior to the person that resented being asked to carry the coffin?

That’s a valid thing to feel and could be many reasons why.

However slightly off tangent, I wondered why we didnt get to see the coffin being taken out, the camera zoomed out, was there a reason for this?

To allow a monent of privacy away from the cameras for the family members to assemble and compose themselves, perhaps? And in case of any fumbles as the bearer party lifted her.

Was it lead-lined, and were your efforts being broadcast to millions?

I carried my grannies coffin, we were the first family in our village to have females carrying the coffin. There were 4 of us and two males, it was an honour (and not that heavy)

My neighbour is a funeral director and discourages relatives from carrying the coffin unless they have an appropriate number of strong, broad, similar height people to do so. It's awkward and can be heavy and the stakes are high.

I carried my Dad back in June. I knew I wanted to do it from the minute we knew he was dying. I felt, like others have said, that it was the last thing I could do for him. My sister did too, although she was less comfortable or keen on the idea. We were joined by other relatives and friends and the undertakers said it's very common for loved ones to do it. They talked us through and helped until we were ready to walk. It wasn't a long time, but I was so anxious and the pressure was huge. I can't remember the weight, just the fear that I would trip!

This could have been the recommendation for our family then! If my DGM was carried by her children and grandchildren there would be over a foot difference in height between the tallest and shortest. I didn’t find it sad at all. Plenty of people got up and spoke movingly about my DGM and the grief in the room was palpable. The pall bearers from the undertakers were excellent, incredibly respectful and dignified.

I had had 4 close family members die in the last 18 months (including a child and my grandad). Plus with funerals of other people I have attended 19 funerals in 2 years (I’m a district nurse and we try to attend funerals of long running patients) most of them had close family members, strong men etc and not a single one was carried in my family members. In fact thinking about it I have NEVER attended a funeral where the coffin was was carried in. It’s always taken from the car and put on a set of wheels. Never really thought about that until now