Queen Elizabeth’s coffin was made more than 30 years ago by the same firm that made the lead-lined casket in which the Duke of Edinburgh lies interred.
Royal coffins are traditionally made from well-seasoned oak from the Sandringham estate, but precise details about the manufacture of the late Queen’s coffin are thought to have been lost in the decades since it was ordered.
The lead-lined casket – which is effectively a coffin within a coffin – was made by the specialist firm Henry Smith, which closed in 2005 and which also made the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin, as well as those of celebrities including Diana Dors, Freddie Mercury and Jimi Hendrix.
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The brass handles and other fitments, which include clasps to hold the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre in place when they are placed on the coffin for the lying in state, are thought to have been made by the Birmingham foundry Newman Brothers, which is no longer in business.
Read more: The Telegraph
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