The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, in front of which hundreds of thousands of people will gather until her funeral, is made of English oak lined with lead and was already ready more than thirty years ago, explains this Monday

The Times.

The public will not be able to see the face of the queen, whose coffin will lie closed and covered with the standard and the royal regalia.

The queen's coffin is made of English oak lined with lead, like that of her husband Prince Philip, who died in April 2021. The London funeral company Leverton and Sons, in charge of the funeral, explained four years ago to the British daily ignore when and by whom the coffins were made, which she inherited in 1991 when she began working with the palace.

An extremely heavy lead liner

“It is made of English oak, which is very difficult to find” and very expensive, explained then his boss Andrew Leverton.

The lead lining makes it possible to make the coffin hermetic, since it will be deposited in a crypt and not buried.

But she makes it extremely heavy for its eight carriers.

The brass handles are designed specifically for royal coffins, as is the lid, which must be able to support the insignia of the monarchy.

"It's not something you can do in a day," Leverton told The

Times

.

The royal standard, the scepter and the orb

After being displayed in Edinburgh, the coffin will be transported to London on Tuesday evening.

The next day, he will be deposited on a catafalque draped in purple at the Palace of Westminster, and watched over by guards.

The royal standard, emblem of the monarchy which traditionally floated above Buckingham, Sandrigham or Windsor when the queen was there, will cover her coffin.

There will also be placed two royal insignia, the scepter and the orb, a globe surmounted by a cross which symbolizes the Christian world.

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