When in 1997 Diana, Princess of Wales died following a car crash in Paris, her death and funeral saw an unprecedented outburst of public interest and participation. Never before had the death of a member of the royal family caused such an enormous, worldwide reaction, eventually even leading to an Oscar-winning movie. The funeral attracted more attention than any royal or state funeral in history; in fact the number of people who saw it live via television is matched by only a few other events. The long tradition of British royal and state funerals, together with their complex ceremonial and their music, was thus introduced to a large, global public who followed every detail of the event as it unfolded.

The phrase ‘royal and state funerals’ may at first sight seem to be a pleonasm, since each funeral of a monarch is, of course, also a state funeral. However, the scope of this study stretches beyond the funerals of reigning kings or queens; and it is worth emphasising that funerals of other members of the royal family are not necessarily state funerals – in fact, they are normally not. All the same, this study looks not merely at royal funerals but also at state funerals granted to non-royalty, which provide interesting comparisons and are important events in the history and development of the overall ceremonial at such occasions – not the least because of their music. The funeral of the Duke of Marlborough in 1722, for instance, was a striking occasion challenging royal funerals in terms of musical elaboration. Indeed, it was significant for the development of the ceremony into a public ‘musical’ event.

The timeframe of this study includes all the major funerals in the period ranging from Elizabeth I to the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The funeral of Elizabeth I in 1603 denotes a good starting point as it was the first major royal funeral that took place after the full, secure establishment of the Church of England. At the other end of the timeframe, the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002 was the first major royal funeral of the new millennium and represents in several ways the high point of a new development for such occasions. Looking beyond this event, the book includes funerals up to the ceremonial funeral of Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in 2013.