As explored in the previous chapter, the return of royal funerals to the public had begun at the start of the twentieth century when the funeral of Queen Victoria received much attention and Edward VII's obsequies began a partial resetting of the ceremonies in the capital. Royal funerals overall, however, still remained mostly confined to the reclusiveness of Windsor. In this way, the arrangements and ceremonial of the Duke of Windsor's funeral in 1972 stood in a line with those since the beginning of the century, confirming an almost ‘standard ceremonial’ for members of the royal family. However, at least for higher ranking members of the royal family, this ‘standard’ was soon to change, with the return of royal funeral services to Westminster Abbey and the publicity of full royal ceremonial in the capital.

Lord Mountbatten, 1979

On 27 August 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten, first Earl Mountbatten of Burma and former Viceroy of India, was killed by the IRA. The funeral was held less than ten days later, on 5 September, in Westminster Abbey. This funeral is often classified as a state funeral. Indeed, during the funeral procession the cortège was drawn by sailors, following the custom at state funerals going back to that of Queen Victoria (see below). At the same time, however, there was a notable absence of heralds at Mountbatten's funeral. Bland concludes that Mountbatten's funeral, ‘though not a state funeral, was a royal ceremonial occasion par excellence’. Three years previously, in 1976, the ceremonial funeral of the ennobled Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein had still taken place in the confines of St George's Chapel, Windsor, before his private burial in the churchyard of Holy Cross Church in Binsted, Hampshire. In contrast, following the precedent of Churchill's funeral, Mountbatten's interment in Romsey Abbey was preceded by a much grander funeral service in London. This time, however, the service took place in Westminster Abbey. Apart from the singular ceremony as part of Queen Alexandra's funeral, Mountbatten's was the first major royal funeral in the Abbey since the eighteenth century.

In the same ways as for Churchill, it has been observed that it was Mountbatten himself who had worked out a ‘master plan’ for his funeral ‘down to the smallest detail’ and that it ‘was to be a ceremonial funeral […] with full military honours’.