The Life of King Henry the Eight • Paragraph 934
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At home in London the casket to contain the Royal remains was fashioned of British oak from the Forest of Windsor and on May 14th, the body of King Edward was removed from the room in which he died to the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace, and there placed on a catafalque in front of a temporary altar where it was guarded night and day by four Royal Grenadiers. On May 16th, amidst a solemn and imposing but preliminary pageant the late King was carried from the Palace where he died to Westminster Hall, where the remains were to lie in solemn state. A farewell family service had been held by the Bishop of London and then the body at 11.30 in the morning was transported to its new resting-place between double lines of red-coated soldiers, flanked by dense and silent masses of mourning people, with buildings on every hand heavily draped.