Today, in this series of glimpses from the archive on Churchill’s funeral, we move on four more years to the official planning stage.
These are documents produced by the Lord Great Chamberlain’s department, in December 1964, shortly before Churchill’s death on the 24th January. We see firstly the timetable (appropriately for “D Day”) for the lying in state at Westminster Hall, when more than three hundred thousand people filed past Churchill’s coffin to pay their respects. Then there is the plan of Westminster Hall itself, working out how to arrange the sheer numbers of people involved, and finally we have the secret guest list for those who would attend the funeral in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Timetable for Churchill’s lying in state. Reference: Churchill Papers, CHUR 1/138/133.
Map for Churchill’s lying in state in Westminster Hall. Reference: Churchill Papers, CHUR 1/138/143.
Secret guest list for the funeral. Reference: Churchill Papers, CHUR 1/141/208.
For more information on Churchill in 2015, take a look at the new Churchill Central website.
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