More than five decades have passed since the last time a state funeral was held in the UK.
Wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill was the last person to be given the full honours upon their death. That may be surprising, as pomp and ceremony were not in short supply for funerals of figures like Prince Philip, Princess Diana and the Queen Mother, but they were not granted state funerals, they had 'ceremonial funerals' which are similar but not exactly the same.
A House of Commons Library note on the arrangments for state and ceremonial funerals explains the difference: "A state funeral is commonly held to differ from a ceremonial funeral in two respects: a parliamentary motion authorises it, and the gun carriage bearing the coffin to the lying in state has, since the funeral of Queen Victoria, been drawn by Royal Navy sailors rather than by horses."
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It adds: "Typically, in either type of funeral, there is a military procession carrying the coffin to Westminster Hall, a period of lying in state, and a service at Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral."
Who gets a state funeral in the UK?
Mostly, state funerals are reserved for monarchs, Queen Elizabeth II is essentially entitled to one and there was no question that she would get one.
But you do not have to have been a reigning Queen or King to get a State Funeral in the UK. Churchill was the last person to have one, on January 30, 1965.
The House of Commons Library note explains: "A state funeral is defined by the Royal Encyclopedia as 'generally limited to Sovereigns, but may, by order of the reigning monarch and by a vote of Parliament providing the fund, be extended to exceptionally distinguished persons'."
Churchill, Britain's Prime Minister during the Second World War, was given a state funeral by order of Queen Elizabeth II and had himself expressed a desire to have one.
Who decides who gets a state funeral?
While monarchs like Queen Elizabeth II are entitled to state funerals, other figures - such as Prime Ministers - can be honoured with them at the request of the reigning King or Queen. Parliament must then vote to approve it and authorise the use of state money for the ceremony, which is funded by the taxpayer.
Elizabeth II personally requested that MPs vote to honour Churchill by agreeing to a state funeral. In a note presented to Parliament by then Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson, she wrote: "I know that it will be the wish of all my people that the loss which we have sustained by the death of the Right Honourable Sir Winston Churchill, K.G., should be met in the most fitting manner, and they should have an opportunity of expressing their sorrow at the loss and their veneration of the memory of that outstanding man who in war and peace served his country unfailingly for more than 50 years and in the hours of our greatest danger was the inspiring leader who strengthened and supported us all.
"Confident that I can rely upon the support of my faithful Commons, and upon their liberality in making suitable provision for the proper discharge of our debt of gratitude and tribute of national sorrow, I have directed that Sir Winston’s body shall lie in State in Westminster Hall and that thereafter the funeral service shall be held in the Cathedral Church of St Paul."
Others honoured with a state funeral in the past include Isaac Newton, Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Lord Palmerston
Margaret Thatcher asked to not have a state funeral
While she was granted a ceremonial funeral with "full military honours", former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher did not have a state funeral when she died in 2013
The House of Commons Library says: "Baroness Thatcher was consulted on her funeral arrangements. According to her spokesman Lord Bell, 'she specifically did not want a state funeral and nor did her family. She particularly did not wish to lie in state as she thought that was not appropriate'."
In contrast, Churchill was reportedly asked five years before he died if he wished for a state funeral in his honour: "He did: guns, trumpets,soldiers, the lot," Churchill's son, Randolph, reported back.
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