Gun carriage that carried Queen's coffin to Westminster Abbey has rich history

The gun carriage was also used at the funeral of the Queen's first prime minister, Winston Churchill

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Gun carriage that carried Queens coffin to Westminster Abbey has rich history

The carriage that will be used to carry the Queen's coffin to Westminster Abbey on Monday has a rich history of its own.

Amazingly, it's a field gun carriage that the Royal Navy has been looking after since 1901. It was taken out of active service for Queen Victoria's funeral in February that year.

Gun carriage that carried Queens coffin to Westminster Abbey has rich history

Victoria was Queen Elizabeth II's great, great-grandmother, and the carriage was also used at the Queen's father's funeral, Edward VI, and at King George V's and King Edward VII's.

It was also used at the funeral of the Queen's first prime minister, Winston Churchill, who died in 1965.

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral will be held on Monday 19 September. The event will take place in the morning around 11am at Westminster Abbey at the end of an official 10-day period of mourning.