"Queen Mom Funeral Procession" London Travelogue by FreeCloud

I do NOT have enough knowledge about royal regiment/guard issue. So I will be very grateful to you if you can help me identify which photo shows which regiment and so on. Thank you very much ahead!

I could not find a photo online to learn which regiment are wearing (wrapped) in a tiger or leopard or other types of animal fur.

You tell how crowded it was. Many people had waited there two if not more hours before the procession started.

This is the ??? on horse ahead of the gun carriage with Queen Mom's casket.

The same crew as in Photo 7, with the gun carriage behind now carrying Queen Mom's casket.

Covered with Queen Mom's flag, and with her crown on top, together with a white rose wreath from Queen Elizabeth II and her note ‘in loving memory, Lilibet’.

Queen Mom's crown usually is stored and displayed at the Jewel House of the Tower of London (see my 'must see' section). When we went to the Jewel House a couple of days later, among a series of crowns in display, where the Queen Mom’s should be had a note saying ‘lent out, in use’ (may not be the exact words).

You know that it was not just the crown temporarily missing from the display (which would be returned later), but the owner is forever gone.

Princes Charles, Andrew, Edward, and Princess Anne (no, not in the car with other female royal family members together with the Queen), together with other royal family members, all escorted the casket.

Just finished the film with my camera with regular lens, this one was taken in a hurry with the one with a tele-lens, with people pushing me around, you could still recognize his back from this rather blurred image.

Friday, 2002-Apr-05
Queen Mom’s Funeral Procession was held at 11:30, Friday, April 5, 2002. It said that there were about 2,000 regiments/guards marching through the process.

The "Bearskin Band" marching from towards the Buckingham Palace gate.

This path is the very one that new guards with a band come from, and march to the forecourt of the Buckingham Palace for the most popular tourist scene 'Change of Guards' ceremony, after that, the ‘old’ guards would march back along this path too.

The Wellington Barracks (in the right back ground)is where the guards headquarters are (need to double check).

Behind the street light pole, is the St.James Park.

After the procession.

Friday, 2002-Apr-05
Right after the procession:
Flowers and notes by public to Queen Mom on the lawn next to the Westminster Abbey.

However, somehow it disappeared when we went there again next day.

This is the entrance to the Westminster Hall where Queen Mom was lying-in-state.

The queue starts from here and snaked miles long for the days between Friday, April 5 till Tuesday, April 9 early morning. People waited from 3 hours on the first day (Friday, April 5) upto 14 hours on the last day (Monday, April 8) in the queue to see Queen Mom's casket

Friday, April 5, 2002
A couple of hours after the funeral procession.

The queue started from the St.Stephen's entrance, along the Thames on the north bank, cross the Bambeth Bridge, then doubled (U-turned here) at the south bank of the Westminster Bridge.

Sunday, April 7, 2002
Two days after the funeral procession, people waited at least 8 hours in line.

The photo shows how the line bends in three folds (follow the red number).

Number 2 shows the people walking towards a temporary tent (to the right, not shown) for signing condolences book. From there, there would be 2 more hours before they got to the St.Stephen's entrance (Photo 22).

Number 4 was the line on the south bank of the Thames, across the Bambeth Bridge.

19:00, Monday, April 8, 2002, evening before the Tuesday, April 9 funeral
Today, people would wait up to 14 hours in line, in the very chilly and windy weather.

Among them, parents with tiny babies or young children, fully decorated veterans, and silver-haired who still have vivid memories of Churchill’s funeral (or even Queen Mom's husband's funeral), locals and people from other parts of UK or even other parts of the world including some tourists.

On Monday afternoon, the big signs at any major Tube stations said (also announced on the train by operators) one would have to wait at least 12 hours and need to get off at the Waterloo Bridge to reach the end of line if one wants to see Queen Mom's lying-in-state.

However, when we reached the end of the line (not for waiting in the line) at 19:00, knowing the Westminster Hall definitely would be closed at 6:00 AM on Tuesday morning for the funeral, people were still waiting to pay their last respect before the funeral.

19:30, Monday, 2002-Apr-8
Almost the end of the line, viewed from the British Navy Eye (see 'Must See' for details) nearby.

I do not remember exactly the name of this bridge, but the end of line was beyond the Waterloo Bridge.

19:00, Monday, April 8
This girl was playing the violin, saluting to the Queen Mom and companying those who are far at the end of the long line.

The music Lament played by the bands on the Friday’s funeral procession companied with the heavy marching step sounds of the regiments/guards were so striking that they lingered in my brain for days when I was in London. This was indeed a very unusual experience.

We left on Tuesday morning, the Queen Mom's State Funeral day.

Please remember to help me identifying those regiment/guard types. I numbered the photos for your convenience. Thank you.

Finally: 'assume' is NOT an obscene word, and I never use any obscene word! VT need to modify their automatic program searching for 'obscene' word.

Thanks to Hayward68/Laura who told me that this photo is the Toronto Scottish Regiment (hope I did not misunderstand her).

Hope I did not mislabel this: I learnt such uniforms belong to the life guards, learnt from the Guards Museum (see my 'must see' for detail)!

I assume this was the very one which later carried Queen Mom's casket. The carriage is heading to the Buckingham Palace direction now.

I believe the whole 'crew' with the gun carriage came out of the Royal Mews (west of the Buckingham Palace). An half hour ago, I saw the carriage in the courtyard of the Royal Mews, through our hotel room window across the Buckingham Palace Road.

Now the whole procession at the Horse Guards Road, before turn to the White Hall.

I was amazed to see how they held their guns, with right hand at the back (photo on the left). I always thought the army held their guns in front.

I also wondered how 'comfortable (or not)' to have the hat strip under their mouths than chins (photo on the right).

It was so crowded, it was really hard to see anything. Many people had their children on their shoulders high above to take photos.