Queen Elizabeth II Coffin Arrives Buckingham Place

The state hearse is a vehicle of the

Royal Mews The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British royal family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and ...

used for funerals of the British royal family. Based on a Jaguar XJ model, it was designed by the Royal Household and Jaguar Land Rover with the input of and approval from

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and converted by UK-Based

coachbuilder A coachbuilder manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles. The trade of producing coachwork began with bodies for horse-drawn vehicles. Today it includes custom automobiles, buses, Coach (bus), motor coaches, and passenger car (rai ...

Wilcox Limousines. It was first used on 13 September 2022 to transport Queen Elizabeth II's coffin from

RAF Northolt Royal Air Force Northolt or more simply RAF Northolt is a Royal Air Force List of Royal Air Force stations, station in South Ruislip, from Uxbridge in the London Borough of Hillingdon, western Greater London, England, approximately north of ...

to London ahead of her lying-in-state.

Design

The state hearse was designed by Jaguar Land Rover in collaboration with the Royal Household. Queen Elizabeth II had long favoured Land Rovers as her vehicle of choice. The hearse is based on a Jaguar XJ ( X351) saloon. Its conversion from the standard model was made by Wilcox Limousines. The hearse has large side and back windows and a glass roof to maximise the coffin's visibility to onlookers. It also features three internal spotlights along one side of the roof to illuminate the coffin, which is on a raised platform. The design of the car is unique. The roof pillars are thinner than in a standard model and the roof is higher. The hearse has royal claret coloured paint, which matches other vehicles operated by the Royal Mews. It also sports the

royal cypher In modern heraldry, a royal cypher is a monogram or monogram-like device of a country's reigning Monarch, sovereign, typically consisting of the initials of the monarch's name and title, sometimes interwoven and often surmounted by a Crown (heral ...

and, when transporting the late monarch, a silver-plated bronze

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...

depicting Saint George slaying the dragon. Jaguar's "grinner" badge of a jaguar's face is on the front grill and their "leaper" badge of a jumping animal on the rear panel. Queen Elizabeth II approved the final plans for the design of the hearse.

Use

The state hearse was first used on 13 September 2022 to transport the coffin of Elizabeth II from RAF Northolt to

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...

. It was then used on 19 September 2022 to transport the coffin from London's Wellington Arch to

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel, formally titled The King's Free Chapel of the College of St George, Windsor Castle, at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is a Royal peculiar, Royal Peculia ...

for her committal service.

Predecessors

Previous royal hearses have included a Jaguar XJ used for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and a custom built open top

Land Rover Defender The Land Rover Defender (introduced as the Land Rover One Ten, joined in 1984 by the Land Rover Ninety, plus the extra-length Land Rover One Two Seven in 1985) is a series of British off-road cars and pick-up truck, pickup trucks. They have f ...

for the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

References

{{reflist Hearses Road transport of heads of state Royal vehicles Jaguar Land Rover State funerals in the United Kingdom Vehicles introduced in 2022 Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II

Design

Use

Predecessors

See also

References