The pallbearers receive royal honors for their participation in the funeral services for Queen Elizabeth II. King Charles III awards the Royal Victorian Medal to the eight soldiers from the Grenadier Guards Division who carried the Queen’s coffin in London, the palace said today.
The medal is an award for personal service to the Royal Family. The medal was also given to the eight bearers who were responsible for the Queen’s coffin in the Scottish capital of Edinburgh. Numerous other royal helpers who were involved in the celebrations were also honored.
Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. During days of national mourning, her closed coffin was first taken to Edinburgh and laid out in St Giles Cathedral. Mourners were then able to pay their last respects to the Queen in Parliament’s Westminster Hall in London. The state funeral then took place in Westminster Abbey.
Charles responds to demands
Even then, demands had been made to honor the pallbearers. “I cannot imagine how difficult and emotionally draining it must have been to carry Her late Majesty’s coffin just once,” said Conservative MP Tom Hunt. “In front of billions of viewers, they did Her late Majesty and the country proud.”
The Queen’s seamstress, Angela Kelly, who was considered one of her closest confidants, as well as her page Paul Whybrew, her groom Terence Pendry and her ladies-in-waiting Philippa de Pass and Jennifer Gordon Lennox were given the honorary titles of Commander of the Royal Victorian Order. The pilots who flew the Queen’s coffin from Edinburgh to London also received awards.
