The Queen’s pallbearers were flown back from Iraq to take part in the procession

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Guards escorted the Queen into Westminster Hall (Image: AFP/Getty)

The Queen’s pallbearers were brought back from Iraq to take part in her procession.

Pallbearers from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards carried Her Majesty into Westminster Hall after she made her final journey from Buckingham Palace.

The eight guards – whose company commander is the Queen – are all soldiers who have served in Iraq.

Usually only six soldiers carried a coffin, but because of the lead lining, an extra two were needed to carry the Queen.

The Grenadier Guards are the highest-ranking regular army regiment and date back to 1656 – formed as Lord Wentworth’s regiment to protect Charles II in exile.

The oak coffin was made about thirty years ago, and today the Guards brought the Queen to lie in state for four days at Westminster.

While we don’t know everyone who carried the Queen’s casket, a young soldier from Fiji was specially chosen to be one of the pallbearers at last week’s ceremony in Edinburgh.

Ben Tubuna was seen helping to carry the coffin outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse as it entered St Giles’ Cathedral.


Pallbearers from the Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards prepare to carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II into Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster in London on September 14, 2022 to lie in state after a procession from Buckingham Palace. - Queen Elizabeth II will lie in state at Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster from Wednesday until hours before her funeral on Monday, with huge queues expected to form around her coffin to pay their respects. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EMILIO MORENATTI / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)
Grenadier Guard pallbearers carried Her Majesty’s coffin (Image: AFP)

Pallbearers from the Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards prepare to carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II into Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster in London on September 14, 2022 to lie in state after a procession from Buckingham Palace. - Queen Elizabeth II will lie in state at Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster from Wednesday until hours before her funeral on Monday, with huge queues expected to form around her coffin to pay their respects. (Photo by Ben Stansall / POOL / AFP) (Photo by BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The heavy coffin requires two extra guards (Image: AFP)

The coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II rests in Westminster Hall for the funeral in London, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. (Dan Kitwood/Pool via AP)
The Queen will now lie in the pyre for the next four days (Image: AP)

Tubuna, from the province of Rewa, lives in Inverness and is part of the Royal Regiment in Edinburgh.

The 21-year-old acknowledged the privilege he has been given to be a part of the momentous event.

He told the Fiji Times: “I felt blessed that, being a Fijian, I was given such an important assignment.

“But I took it with humility because that’s my job — that’s a role I have to play as a soldier.”

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