The reason why HM Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin is being towed on rope by sailors rather than horses during its procession has been revealed.
And it’s all to do with bad weather and a disastrous incident at a former Royal’s funeral.
The nation bid a final farewell to our longest-reigning monarch at State Funeral today, with around 2,000 guests attending the official service Westminster Abbey, including world leaders representing nearly 200 countries and territories, 500 foreign dignitaries – such as politicians, civil servants, and some celebrities – and many ordinary members of the public selected for charitable or community works.
Tens of thousands of mourners also travelled to London and Windsor for the funeral and burial service, and many more were seen gathering at different hubs across the UK to watch the historic event in real-time as it was broadcast.
Queen Elizabeth II’s children – including the newly-ascended King Charles III and Queen Consort – were in attendance, as were her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and other extended family members.
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The service concluded with a two-minute silence observed by the nation.
It’s fair to say that there were many moments from the funeral that will be remembered and talked about for years to come, and one of those talking points appears to be why the Queen’s coffin was taken to Westminster Abbey by being pulled on rope on a carriage by Royal Navy personnel, rather than being towed by horses.
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HM Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin being towed by Royal Navy personnel / Credit: The Royal Family
The coffin was then continued to be transported this way for the majority of the rest of its procession to Windsor Castle , and many viewers took to social media to question why this was the case.
The reason why the coffin was transported this way dates back to 1901.
On the day of Queen Victoria’s funeral on 4 February 1901, her coffin was to be carried on the gun carriage through the streets of Windsor.
But the classic British weather said otherwise.
In the bitter cold of that winter’s day, the horses pulling the carriage panicked and reared up, which threatened to topple the coffin off of the carriage.
As for her father King George VI, grandfather King George V, great-grandfather King Edward VII and great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, Her Majesty The Queen’s coffin was borne in a Procession to Westminster Abbey on the State Gun Carriage. pic.twitter.com/2Vl58ITLGp
Captain Prince Louis of Battenberg – who was then the future First Sea Lord of the Royal Nany – was quick to intervene, and he suggested to the new monarch, Edward VII, that the senior service should step in and take over.
The horses pulling the carriage were then unharnessed and improvised ropes were attached to the gun carriage so the team of sailors brought could carry the coffin safely for the rest of the route.
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The image of the coffin mishap became so famous, that only nine years later at the funeral of Edward VII, the routine of Royal Navy escortation was adopted as a new tradition, and has been seen at every single British monarch’s State Funeral since then.
Featured Image – BBC
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Royal Mail fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets
Emily Sergeant
Ofcom has fined Royal Mail a whopping £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets in the last financial year.
Each year, it’s the watchdog’s job to look at and measure Royal Mail’s delivery performance against nationwide annual delivery targets, and for the 2024/25 season, the company was required to deliver 93% of First Class mail within one working day of collection, and 98.5% of Second Class mail within three working days.
If Royal Mail misses its annual targets, Ofcom will first consider evidence of any ‘exceptional circumstances’ beyond the company’s control, and whether it would have achieved its targets had those events not occurred.
However, even after accounting for extreme weather events, Royal Mail was still found to have fallen short of its targets… and this time, they’ve been fined their highest sum so far.
We have fined Royal Mail £21m for missing its 2024/25 delivery targets, without justification.
The company must now urgently publish, and deliver, a credible improvement plan.
This is the third time in a row that Ofcom has found the company to be in breach of its regulatory obligations, after it was first fined a substantial £5.6m in November 2023, and then a further £10.5m in December 2024.
Royal Mail only delivered 77% of First Class mail and 92.5% of Second Class mail on time between April 2024 and March 2025.
Ofcom says it has therefore decided that the company breached its obligations by failing to provide ‘an acceptable level of service’ without justification, and took ‘insufficient and ineffective’ steps to try and prevent this failure.
“Hiding behind the pandemic as a driving factor in failures at Royal Mail does not cut it.”
Royal Mail has been fined £21m by Ofcom failing to meet its delivery targets / Credit: Royal Mail
The watchdog says this is likely to have impacted millions of customers who did not get the service they paid for.
“Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp,” explained Ian Strawhorne, who is the Director of Enforcement at Ofcom.
“These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
“Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency, and that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.
“We’ve told the company to publicly set out how it’s going to deliver this change, and we expect to start seeing meaningful progress soon. If this doesn’t happen, fines are likely to continue.”
Featured Image – Royal Mail
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Thousands of elderly and disabled people to get free 24-hour bus travel across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people in Greater Manchester are set to benefit from round-the-clock bus travel for free.
Currently, as part on an ongoing pilot scheme, people with a Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)-issued concessionary travel pass have free unlimited travel on Bee Network buses between 9.30am and midnight during the week, and all day on weekends and public holidays.
The rule was lifted in August on a trial basis for a month, meaning older and disabled residents in Greater Manchester had access to unlimited free bus travel any time between the allocated hours.
During the August trial, more than 100,000 journeys were made by older and disabled people – with up to 6,000 people a day making use of the pilot.
But now, after proving to be a huge success, the pilot is being extended even further, so that 400,000 eligible residents will now get free bus travel 24-hours a day, seven days a week, starting from 1 November.
If you travel with a TfGM-issued concessionary travel pass, from 1 November you’ll be able to use it on #BeeNetwork buses before 9.30am as part of a second month-long trial.
As well as free early-morning bus travel, during the trial starting in November, eligible residents will be able to board the Bee Network’s night buses for free too.
TfGM says allowing concessionary pass holders to travel at any time will ‘better connect’ them to healthcare, leisure, and retail opportunities.
“The last trial in August was a brilliant success, which saw more than 100,000 journeys made by our older and disabled people before 9.30am,” commented Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
“We are now carrying out this second trial, at a busier time of year, to see whether we can safely remove the restriction permanently and help our older and disabled people to get to work, go shopping, and get to medical appointments.
“We want the Bee Network to be the best public transport system possible and this means it needs to support all of our residents and communities to make the journeys they need to make and use the bus more.”
Emily Sergeant -
19th September 2022 
