State funeral Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. They usually include much pomp and ceremony.
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In the United Kingdom
A state funeral consists of a military procession via gun carriage from the private resting chapel to Westminster Hall, where the body usually lies in state for three days. This is then followed by a funeral service at Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral.
Many of the features of a state funeral are shared by other types of funeral - a Royal Ceremonial funeral (for example, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's) often has a lying in state and Westminster Abbey service. The distinction between a state funeral and a ceremonial funeral is that in a state funeral, the gun carriage bearing the coffin is drawn by sailors from the Royal Navy rather than horses. This tradition dates from the funeral of Queen Victoria; the horses drawing the gun carriage bolted, and so ratings from the Royal Navy hauled it to the Royal Chapel at Windsor. In the lying-in-state, the coffin rests on a catafalque in the middle of Westminster Hall. Each corner is guarded by various units of the Sovereign's Bodyguard or the Household Division. However, on some occasions (most notably the funerals of King George V and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother), male members of the Royal Family have mounted the guard. For George V, his four sons King Edward VIII, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent stood guard. For the Queen Mother, her grandsons The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex and Viscount Linley took post.
The honour of a state funeral is usually reserved for the Sovereign as Head of State. Few others have had them:
- Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
- The Rt Hon. William Gladstone
- The Rt Hon. Sir Winston Churchill
- Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar
In the United States
In the U.S., state funerals are granted by law to Presidents, former Presidents, Presidents-elect, and other individuals designated by the President. While tradition and protocol greatly influence the funeral planning, the exact sequence of events is largely determined by the family of the deceased. This decision is made once a president leaves office.
History and development
The pomp and circumstance of state funerals were eschewed by the founding fathers who believed them to be too reminicent of British rule. The first general mourning proclaimed in America was on the death of Benjamin Franklin in 1791 and the next on the death of George Washington in 1799. Though public mournings were held all over the country for George Washington, his funeral was a local affair in Mount Vernon. The first major funeral ceremony was for William Henry Harrison, the first president to die in office. Alexander Hunter, a Washington merchant, was commissioned to design the ceremony. He had the White House draped in black ribbon and ordered a curtained and upholstered black and white carriage to carry the casket.
However, it was not until the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 that the United States experienced a nationwide period of mourning, made possible by advances in communications technologies -- train and telegraph. Lincoln was the first U.S. president to lie in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Ceremonies conducted henceforth have been based on Lincoln's funeral. To date, ten presidents have been honored by having their remains lie in state (on the same black catafalque built for Lincoln) in the Rotunda with a ceremonial honor guard to attend them, the latest being President Reagan, who was inaugurated in the rotunda for his second term in 1985 due to freezing cold temperatures the day the public ceremony took place.
While tradition and protocol greatly influence the funeral planning, the exact sequence of events is largely determined by the family of the deceased. Most state funerals include Armed Forces pallbearers, various 21-gun salutes, renditions by military bands and choirs, a military chaplain for the immediate family, and a flag draped on the casket as a veteran's honor.
Presidents who die in office lie in repose in the East Room of the White House. Former presidents lie in repose in home state, usually in the deceased's presidential library or (if no such library exists) a church or statehouse, before traveling to Washington, D.C. Reagan lay in repose in his library in Simi Valley, California for two days, beginning at noon Monday, June 7, 2004 until late evening, Tuesday, June 8, 2004, and was flown to Andrews Air Force Base the next day.
A ceremonial funeral procession in a caisson (drawn by six horses of the same color, three riders and a section chief mounted on a separate horse from the Old Guard Caisson Platoon) is a traditional component of a state funeral observance. The procession begins in front the White House and moves along Pennsylvania Avenue to the U.S. Capitol. For former presidents, the casket is transferred to the caisson at Constitution Avenue before the South Lawn, but for sitting presidents, the casket is transferred at the Pennsylavania Avenue entrance of the mansion. The procession is composed of National Guard, active-duty, academy and reserve personnel that represent the five branches of the United States armed forces and the casket is followed by riderless horse. The procession ends at the north front of the U.S. Capitol, except for Reagan who arrived at the south front due to construction work. Funeral processions in the nation's capital have honored ten presidents, including the four who have died by assassination: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy.
Upon the casket's arrival at the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol a short service (the official "state funeral") is given with members of Congress present. At Reagan's funeral on June 9, 2004, the chaplains from the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate officiated. The three eulogies given that evening were from President pro tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens of Alaska, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert of Illinois, and President of the Senate Dick Cheney, who was filling in for President of the United States George W. Bush, who was in Sea Island, Georgia, hosting the G-8 Summit.
Afterwards, the late president's body lies in state for public viewing. Although lying in state continues through the night, it differs from lying in repose. The honor guard, whose members represent each of the armed services, maintain a vigil over the remains throughout the period of time the remains lie in state. Public viewing is allowed continuously during the lying in state until one hour before the departure ceremony. After Reagan's death, over 106,000 people came to view the casket at the Capitol Rotunda with lines to enter lasting hours.
A national memorial service is held in Washington, D.C. This is usually held at the Washington National Cathedral, with various foreign dignitaries and government officials attending. On the matter of seating arrangements for the funeral, the presidential party is followed by heads of state, arranged alphabetically by the English spelling of their countries. Royalty representing heads of state, such as princes and dukes, come next, followed by heads of government, such as prime ministers and premiers. During the ceremony at the cathedral, generals sit in the north nave, family members in the south nave.
Immediately after the service is completed, the body travels to its final resting place for interment. The firing of three volleys over the grave by seven service members originates in the military custom of suspending the fighting to remove the dead from the battlefield as three rifle volleys signaled that the fighting could resume. Another military tradition dictates that the national flag will be flown at half-staff for thirty days from the date of death.
Some better known U. S. presidents who have had state funerals and have lain "in state" under the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. are Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Before the mid-20th Century, the body was moved long distances by funeral train procession, where thousands of citizens would line the railroad tracks to pay their last respects. Kennedy was transported by his former presidential jet with the new President Lyndon B. Johnson aboard from his place of death in Dallas, Texas back to Washington, D.C. Transport in recent decades between the deceased president's home state and Washington, D.C. has been by one of the jets usually used as Air Force One. Arrivals and departures are usually met with 21-gun salutes. Because of jets, both the national funeral services in Washington and the burial services in honor of the last two presidents given a state funeral--Johnson on January 25, 1973, and Reagan on June 11, 2004--spanned the country in one day.
Because he and his family did not wish to rekindle ill will by going east to Washington, D.C, considering the events of the Watergate Scandal, Richard Nixon's funeral was held at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace at Yorba Linda, California where he is buried.
The Military District of Washington and its ceremonial Old Guard unit has primary responsibility in conducting the ceremony and goes by a 138-page planning document. The commanding general for the U.S. Army District of Washington appoints an Armed Forces team to provide security for the presidential remains, whether they be lying in state or in a church or other location.
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Funeral arrangements
State funerals are usually planned years earlier. Each living U. S. president - current or former - is required to have funeral plans in place upon becoming president. These details become more important upon leaving office, as it reduces stress for the president's family in an era of worldwide electronic media scrutiny.Reference
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