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A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. They usually include much pomp and ceremony.
United Kingdom
A state funeral consists of a military procession via gun carriage from the private resting chapel to Westminster Hall, where the body usually lies in state for three days. This is then followed by a funeral service at Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral.
 The Queen Mother's Funeral Procession. The Queen Mother had a Royal ceremonial funeral rather than a State funeral  The Prince of Wales guarding his Grandmother's coffin on April 8th, 2002 Many of the features of a state funeral are shared by other types of funeral - a Royal Ceremonial funeral (for example, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother's) often has a lying in state and Westminster Abbey service. The distinction between a state funeral and a ceremonial funeral is that in a state funeral, the gun carriage bearing the coffin is drawn by sailors from the Royal Navy rather than horses. This tradition dates from the funeral of Queen Victoria; the horses drawing the gun carriage bolted, and so ratings from the Royal Navy hauled it to the Royal Chapel at Windsor.
In the lying-in-state, the coffin rests on a catafalque in the middle of Westminster Hall. Each corner is guarded by various units of the Sovereign's Bodyguard or the Household Division. However, on some occasions (most notably the funerals of King George V and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother), male members of the Royal Family have mounted the guard. For George V, his four sons King Edward VIII, The Duke of York, The Duke of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent stood guard. For the Queen Mother, her grandsons The Prince of Wales, The Duke of York, The Earl of Wessex and Viscount Linley took post.
The honour of a state funeral is usually reserved for the Sovereign as Head of State. Few others have had them:
(Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield was offered the honour, but refused it.)
State funerals are usually reserved for the Sovereign as head of state, but the most famous one was that of a former prime minister--Churchill in 1965. The only difference between his state funeral and that of the Sovereign was the gun salute--prime ministers get a 19-gun salute, as a head of government.
United States
In the U.S., state funerals are granted by law to Presidents, former Presidents, Presidents-elect, and other individuals designated by the President. While tradition and protocol greatly influence the funeral planning, the exact sequence of events is largely determined by the family of the deceased. This decision is made once a president leaves office.
History and development
The pomp and circumstance of state funerals were eschewed by the founding fathers who believed them to be too reminicent of British rule. The first general mourning proclaimed in America was on the death of Benjamin Franklin in 1791 and the next on the death of George Washington in 1799. Though public mournings were held all over the country for George Washington, his funeral was a local affair in Mount Vernon. The first major funeral ceremony was for William Henry Harrison, the first president to die in office. Alexander Hunter, a Washington merchant, was commissioned to design the ceremony. He had the White House draped in black ribbon and ordered a curtained and upholstered black and white carriage to carry the casket.
However, it was not until the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865 that the United States experienced a nationwide period of mourning, made possible by advances in communications technologies -- train and telegraph. Lincoln was the first U.S. president to lie in state in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Ceremonies conducted henceforth have been based on Lincoln's funeral. To date, ten presidents have been honored by having their remains lie in state (on the same black catafalque built for Lincoln) in the Rotunda with a ceremonial honor guard to attend them, the latest being President Reagan, who was inaugurated in the rotunda for his second term in 1985 due to freezing cold temperatures the day the public ceremony took place.
Major components
 President Reagan's casket is carried down Pennsylvania Ave. While tradition and protocol greatly influence the funeral planning, the exact sequence of events is largely determined by the family of the deceased. Most state funerals include Armed Forces pallbearers, various 21-gun salutes, renditions by military bands and choirs, a military chaplain for the immediate family, and a flag draped on the casket as a veteran's honor.
Presidents who die in office lie in repose in the East Room of the White House. Former presidents lie in repose in their home state, usually in the deceased's presidential library or (if no such library exists) a church or statehouse, before traveling to Washington, D.C.. Reagan lay in repose in his library in Simi Valley, California for two days, beginning at noon Monday, June 7, 2004 until late evening, Tuesday, June 8, 2004, and was flown to Andrews Air Force Base the next day.
A ceremonial funeral procession in a caisson (drawn by six horses of the same color, three riders and a section chief mounted on a separate horse from the Old Guard Caisson Platoon) is a traditional component of a state funeral observance. The procession begins in sight of the White House and travels to the U.S. Capitol. For former presidents, the casket is transferred to the caisson at Constitution Avenue before the South Lawn and the procession moves down Constitution Avenue, but for sitting presidents, the casket is transferred at the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance of the mansion and the procession moves down Pennsylvania Avenue. The procession is composed of National Guard, active-duty, academy and reserve personnel that represent the five branches of the United States armed forces and the casket is followed by riderless horse. The procession ends at the east front of the U.S. Capitol, except for Reagan who arrived at the west front due to construction work. Also, when Reagan was first inaugurated, he was inaugurated on the west front. Funeral processions in the nation's capital have honored ten presidents, including the four who were assassinated.
Upon the casket's arrival at the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol a short service (the official "state funeral") is given with members of Congress present. At Reagan's funeral, on June 9, 2004, the chaplains from the United States House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate officiated. After the House chaplain, Rev. Daniel Coughlin, gave the invocation, the three eulogies given that evening were from President pro tempore of the Senate Ted Stevens of Alaska, Speaker of the House of Representatives Dennis Hastert of Illinois, and Vice-President Dick Cheney, who was filling in for President George W. Bush, who was in Sea Island, Georgia, hosting the G-8 Summit. The Senate chaplain, Retired Navy Rear Admiral Rev. Harry Black, gave the benediction.
Afterwards, the late president's body lies in state for public viewing. Although lying in state continues through the night, it differs from lying in repose. The honor guard, whose members represent each of the armed services, maintain a vigil over the remains throughout the period of time the remains lie in state. Public viewing is allowed continuously during the lying in state until one hour before the departure ceremony. After Reagan's death, over 106,000 people came to view the casket at the Capitol Rotunda with lines to enter lasting hours.
Nine presidents before Reagan lay in state in the Capitol rotunda. They are:
A national memorial service is held in Washington, D.C. It is either held at Washington National Cathedral or at another church or cathedral, depending on the family, with various foreign dignitaries and government officials attending. On the matter of seating arrangements for the funeral, the presidential party is followed by heads of state, arranged alphabetically by the English spelling of their countries. Royalty representing heads of state, such as princes and dukes, come next, followed by heads of government, such as prime ministers and premiers. During the ceremony at the cathedral, generals sit in the north nave, family members in the south nave. In the case with Reagan, the service was held at National Cathedral, with 218 foreign dignitaries from 165 nations--36 of the dignitaries were past or present heads of state or government (25 present, 11 past). Leading them were Britain's Prince Charles, former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney and his wife, Mila, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev. Lyndon Johnson had his at the National City Christian Church because he worshipped there often when in Washington. The funeral that saw the largest gathering of foreign dignitaries was the one that is most burned in memory--that of John F. Kennedy--220 foreign dignitaries from 92 nations, led by French President Charles de Gaulle and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie.
Immediately after the service is completed, the body travels to its final resting place for interment.
 President Reagan's national funeral service Before the mid-20th Century, the body was moved long distances by funeral train procession, where thousands of citizens would line the railroad tracks to pay their last respects. Transport in recent decades between the deceased president's home state and Washington, D.C. has been by one of the jets usually used as Air Force One. Arrivals and departures are usually met with 21-gun salutes. Because of jets, both the national funeral services in Washington and the burial services in honor of the last two presidents given a state funeral--Johnson on January 25, 1973, and Reagan on June 11, 2004--spanned the country in one day (Johnson's nearly spanned the country in one day, because the burial services took place at his ranch in Johnson City, Texas).
Because he and his family did not wish to rekindle ill will by going east to Washington, D.C., considering the events of the Watergate Scandal, Richard Nixon's funeral was held at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Birthplace at Yorba Linda, California where he is buried.
Even as state funerals feature so much pomp and ceremony, Reagan's featured something else: a massive security operation. That was because the Homeland Security Department designated it a National Special Security Event. Attorney General John Ashcroft called it "sad commentary" for the state funeral to be designated such, but it was the case because the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon destroyed any notion that safety could ever be taken for granted. It was also happening amidst ongoing threats of a terrorist attack, possibly by al Qaeda, the group responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington. This sends two dreadful messages: State funerals are events of a historic nature and terrorists want to disrupt it.
Funeral arrangements
State funerals are usually planned years earlier. Each living U. S. president - current or former - is required to have funeral plans in place upon becoming president. These details become more important upon leaving office, as it reduces stress for the president's family in an era of worldwide electronic media scrutiny. Presidents are required to do from the time they are elected president, because when Kennedy was assassinated, he had no funeral plan in place and it caused a lot of chaos for military authorities.
The Military District of Washington (MDW) has primary responsibility in conducting the ceremony and goes by a 138-page planning document. The commanding general of the MDW appoints an Armed Forces team to provide security for the presidential remains, whether they be lying in state or in a church or other location.
Reference
Canada
In Canada, state funerals are entitled to governor generals and prime ministers and involve lying in state in the Hall of Honour on Parliament Hill. The body doesn't arrive on Parliament Hill via caisson or gun carriage. It arrives via hearse. On arrival, an honor guard from the RCMP for prime ministers and from the governor general's foot guards for the governor generals meet the hearse and escort the casket up the steps in a simple ceremony.
Like in the United States and the United Kingdom, there are guards at each corner of the casket. The guards are from the RCMP and Canadian Forces. In the case with the governor general, their foot guards also guard the casket. With prime ministers, the other guards are from Parliamentary security and Senate security.
Lying in state usually lasts for two days. A recent figure to lie in state was former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 2000. Unlike in the United Kingdom and the United States, public viewing isn't allowed continuously until a certain time. There are designated hours each day of the lying in state. When Trudeau lay in state, police officers toured the lines, and gave a major difference in the lying in state between Canada and the United States and United Kingdom: everyone will be allowed access despite the deadline. About 65,000 went to Parliament Hill during the two days Trudeau lay in state.
When the body leaves Parliament Hill, a 19-gun salute is fired for prime ministers, 21-gun salute for governor generals as the body is escorted to the hearse. The funeral service is usually held at Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa. In the case with Trudeau, the funeral was held in Montreal at Notre Dame Bascilica, because he came from Montreal, and the 19-gun salute on Parliament Hill was the final tribute in the nation's capital to the former prime minister.
Historical
Nazi Germany
Between 1933 and 1945, the nation state of Nazi Germany bestowed state honors on a number of high ranking Nazi and German government officials. Beginning with the state funeral of Paul von Hindenburg, Nazi state funerals were elaborate displays of National Socialism and German idealism.
Besides Hindenburg, two other major state funerals of the Nazi regime were those of Fritz Todt and Reinhard Heydrich. Julius Schreck, one of the founders of the Schutzstaffel was also honored with a state funeral in 1936.
Rome
State funerals of the Roman Empire were of such speldor that the manner of the processions are still generally known in the modern age. The deceased Roman would be carried through the streets of Rome amidst a grand procession, at the end of which was a large funeral cremation site. One of the most famous Roman state funerals was that of Julius Caeser.
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