Saluting. Part of everyday Naval life, a salute is always made with the palm facing in. Why? Because sailors' hands were generally covered in tar from sails and rigging, and it was deemed unsightly to show an officer or member of the Royal Family a dirty palm.
The steeds' panic threatened to topple the coffin off the carriage, so the sailors had to step in to carry the Queen's coffin - therefore enshrining a new tradition that continues at state funerals today.
En route from the hall to the abbey, the Queen's coffin was carried on a 123-year-old gun carriage as part of a procession led by the royal family, Palace guards and 138 Royal Navy sailors. They are known as the Sovereign's Guard and are in place to haul the carriage along with a white rope.
One of those recognised - medical assistant Paisley Chambers-Smith, who is seven months pregnant - helped to pull the gun carriage carrying the Queen's coffin. The King has presented honours to Royal Navy sailors who played a symbolic role in his mother's funeral procession, one of whom is heavily pregnant.
"It was a rollercoaster of emotions," she said. "I felt nervous at first but it was natural after the first pull." The gun carriage was pulled by 142 Royal Navy sailors to Westminster Abbey and later on to Wellington Arch.
When the procession carrying Queen Victoria's coffin set off, the horses that were pulling it reared up. After the horses were led away, Royal Navy sailors standing guard nearby were called in to pull the coffin through Windsor. The tradition has continued at state funerals ever since.
This is the Royal Navy's opportunity to say 'thank you' for her dedication and her service.
After the funeral in Westminster, the Queen's coffin will be transferred to Windsor Castle, where there will be a committal service in St George's Chapel. She will be buried in the castle's King George VI Memorial Chapel, alongside her father, her mother, and her sister's ashes.
During Queen Elizabeth II's committal service in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, the Crown Jeweller removed the Imperial State Crown and the Orb and Sceptre from the Queen's coffin before it was lowered into the royal vault.
At the lying in state, the Queen's closed coffin will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, in Westminster Hall and will be draped in the Royal Standard with the orb and sceptre placed on top.
The custom was adopted in 1901 at Queen Victoria's funeral when the splinter bar of the gun carriage broke as her coffin, weighing nearly half a ton, was lifted into place and the horses began to move. Hit by a ricocheting leather strap, one of the horses panicked and plunged.
The pallbearers hail from the Queen's Company, the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards. 'It's their role to protect her body, both in life and in death, remaining in the Queen's Company until King Charles decides otherwise,' explained Major Adrian Weale to the PA.
The gun carriage is from a British Army Ordnance, BL, 12 pdr 6 cwt, MK II, gun and weighs 2.5 tonnes (2.8 tons). The carriage was made by Vickers, Sons and Maxim in 1896 and entered storage at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, being recorded as No. 146.
The tradition of using guards to pull the carriage began at Queen Victoria's service, it is believed, when concern were raised that horses would be spooked by the crowds and topple the coffin.
The orb was kept steady by a small spike on its bottom that fit into a discreet mounting on top of the coffin's oak surface. The crown sat atop a purple pillow, a seemingly precarious spot that was stabilised by a firm protruding section on which the monarch's headwear was mounted.
Following royal tradition, which dates back as far as the 1600s, the queen's coffin was lined with lead, which ensures that her remains stay intact for up to a year. This is because the lead makes the coffin airtight, stopping moisture from getting in and therefore slowing down the decomposition of the body.
People threw flowers at the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, as she made her "final journey" after leaving Balmoral Castle today, 11 September.
How old are the Crown Jewels that were placed on Queen Elizabeth's coffin? The Imperial crown, the orb and sceptre, the Crown Jewels which accompanied Queen Elizabeth's Coronation in June 1953 have been placed on her coffin as she lies in state in Westminster Hall.
A handwritten note, a crown and a wreath: items on Queen's coffin and what they signify.
Matthew Lymn Rose, managing director of A W Lymn, The Family Funeral Service, told i: “My understanding is that the Queen and all members of the Royal Family have coffins made while alive… so there is no delay, the coffin is there”. As with the Duke of Edinburgh's casket, the Queen's coffin is lined with lead.
The Queen's coffin was slowly lowered into the royal vault in St George's Chapel, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, ahead of her burial later in a private family service. The service was the last of the public events before she is laid to rest next to her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The Australians joined a Commonwealth platoon of more than 100 personnel from Canada and New Zealand. The Commonwealth contingent was led by a mounted detachment of Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The contingent slow marched along the route of almost five kilometres with officers' drawn swords reversed.
Their comrades in a team of 142 sailors will walk alongside to act as a brake if necessary. This tradition dates back to Queen Victoria's funeral in February 1901. The horses meant to haul the gun carriage weighing more than two tons panicked and began kicking, threatening to drop the coffin.
Queen Elizabeth II will be buried in an English oak coffin featuring brass handles that were designed more than 30 years ago, and lined with lead. It is estimated the coffin weighs between 250kg and 317kg.
The Final Journey – The Procession
On the specially extended route, Diana's coffin was carried on a gun carriage, drawn by the Kings Troop, the Royal Horse Artillery.