In a day full of pomp and ceremony, the focal point of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral has been the procession of her coffin.
Travelling down the Long Walk in Windsor, the Queen’s hearse was at the centre of the scarcely-believable splendour. And that was all made possible by two men working in Wigan.
Sean Prescott and Martin Lowe worked together to develop the Queen’s hearse while working for coachbuilders Wilcox Limousines. Today, they have spoken of their pride in seeing their work front and centre for the entire world as they explained to the Manchester Evening News how they built it.
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The car came to Sean and Martin as an entirely normal Jaguar, before undergoing a series of engineering works to convert it into a standard hearse. Then, the pair took over finishing off the finer points of the regal vehicle.
Their involvement was comprehensive, Sean told the M.E.N. The 60-year-old explained: “What the company did was manufacture Jaguar hearses and limousines for the funeral trade. It came as a normal car from Jaguar, and then it is fully stripped out down to a bare shell.
“It’s then cut in half, and they extend the chassis. Then they fit a new body on it, that was done by craftsmen in Northampton. We developed all the trim work for it.
“We were responsible for interior trim, exterior trim, and the glazing. We fully glazed it. It was a big job with the roof.
“Everything you see on the vehicle apart from the shell and paintwork was down to me and Martin. It took us months to build — the tolerances had to be done to two milimetres. It had to be right.
“It’s exactly the same [now as it was then]. It was kept in storage in an air conditioned bubble, and it was brought out every now and then just to make sure it was okay.”
Martin, 42, remembered putting in hours of hardcraft to make sure it was right even though they didn't know which Royal family member would exactly be using it. He explained: “We put a lot of effort into it, basically on our own.
“All we were told was that it was for a member of the Royal family. We had to keep it private, so we could not have our phones out. We were chosen to work on it as skilled trimmers and each part of the vehicle had a member of Jaguar to inspect it before it was approved.”
While Sean, from Leigh, was naturally in a sombre mood on the day of the monarch’s funeral, he also was full of pride seeing his craft at the centre of the proceedings. He continued: “It was great, really. It’s me and Martin’s privilege. It’s a credit to Wilcox.”
Martin, who now lives in Little Lever, added: “I am very proud. I showed my dad, as today is an emotional day for us because my mum passed away a year ago today.
“I feel really proud watching it on TV. I’m explaining to my family that it’s mad, because when you tell people you are doing something for the Royal family and to see it used for the funeral… I am so proud to be part of it.”
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