A young Scots sailor will guard the Queen at her funeral just as his grandfather did at her coronation 70 years ago.
Murray Kerr, 20, will follow the same path as his elder on Monday, September 19, when Her Majesty is laid to rest at Westminster Abbey. His duty comes seven decades after Murray's grandfather, John, guarded the monarch on the day she was crowned in 1953.
The now 92-year-old is a retired Scots Guard who was among thousands to line the streets of London during the Queen's coronation. As soon as Able Seaman Murray learned he would be activated for duty at the funeral, he was on the phone with his grandfather to tell him of the news straight away.
Speaking of his grandfather's role, Murray, from Ayr, Ayrshire, said: "My grandad has always spoken with pride about his time in the Guards, but the one thing, whenever I mention anything ceremonial, was about being at the Queen’s coronation. That was a defining part of his life, not just his career.
"My grandad said, ‘do this and you’ll remember it for the rest of your life’."
Murray has told how his grandfather's discipline inspired him as a young boy and that he still carries out strict routines in his daily life.
He added: "He has always been a role model for me. He carried everything he learned in the Guards into his civilian life. He still polishes his shoes. Irons all of his clothes. Everything is neat. Everything is pressed.
“A lot of that discipline has fallen onto my father and myself. My father joined the Fire Service. There’s a place for everything and everything is in its place. These two great services that moulded them, has moulded me.
“All these things have come down to me being on parade on Monday for the Queen’s funeral, with the aim of being the smartest and best group that lines the streets. That’s what I want for my team. That’s what all of us want.
“We want to be there for Her Majesty. We’re not doing this for anyone else. We are not doing this for us or our families. I would even go as far to say that I’m not doing this for the navy, I’m not doing this just because the navy’s asked me to. I think if I hadn’t been activated, I would have found a way to be there for Her Majesty. That’s the mentality of all of us.”
During the Queen's coronation, John, who lives in Irvine, North Ayrshire, was on National Service with the Scots Guards and was part of the procession that took place through the streets of London. He was one of 16,000 participants on the 7.2km route.
Now, Murray – a trainee seaman specialist in the Royal Navy based at HMS Collingwood in Hampshire – will do the same as one of more than a thousand sailors and Royal Marines playing a pivotal role in the funeral. He and his comrades are undergoing intensive ceremonial training to be ready for Monday, when the Royal Navy will pull the State Ceremonial Gun Carriage bearing the Queen’s coffin on a two-mile route.
It is an assignment the force has performed since the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901. Murray himself will be a street liner on the route of the procession through the capital.
“It’s huge for me. To be here and doing what we’re doing for someone that I’ve respected and admired my entire life,” he said.
“I’ve grown up in a royalist household, showing me the monarchy and this is what they do for us. I’ve had a great respect for the Royals my entire life. Her Majesty even more so because of everything she experienced during her life and everything she gave for us.
“This is the last opportunity for us to give something back. This is huge for me personally and feel very privileged. I feel a massive sense of duty to do this to the best of my ability.”
John has been preparing Murray with his own perspective as the sailor goes into a momentous day for him personally and the nation.
Murray added: “He was telling me all about it. He said there was nothing he wished he’d done differently because of the way everything turned out.
“He never thought he should have moved his foot another half inch to the left when he stood at ease, there was no ‘I wish I held my rifle a little bit straighter’. There is none of this 70 years later. There is the memory of him being part of the biggest ceremonial event of the time.
“That’s what he said to try and remember. You won’t look back in 20 or 30 years and think ‘if only I polished my left boot so it matched the right a bit better’. You will always remember how you felt and what you saw. Who you were with.
“When you see that guard of honour, the carriage crew and Her Majesty’s coffin not 20ft away. To be part of the ceremonial team that is part of this great procession. That’s what will be remembered.
“You sweat the small stuff beforehand but once you’re out there, you polish your boots, your brass, everything to the ninth degree. Your uniform is pressed infinitely. As soon as you march out the gates as part of your half company, all that matters is that you’re there and you do the best that you can."
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