UK state funerals are reserved for monarchs and a few public figures who are considered to be of exceptional national significance.
They usually involve a lot of pomp and ceremony – horse-drawn gun carriages carrying the coffin through London to Westminster, that kind of thing.
But according to Mental Floss, one British Prime Minister actually made the journey to his own funeral on the London Underground.
William Gladstone is one of the most notable Liberal politicians of the Victorian era, served four separate terms as prime minister.
When he died in 1898, it was decided he would have a state funeral. They decided to transport him to Westminster Abbey on the Underground, as he had a connection with the transportation system – Gladstone was one of the first people to ride the Tube when it opened in 1863.
Winston Churchill was the last commoner – non-royalty – to receive a UK state funeral. The event, in 1965, saw 350 million people throughout Europe watch it on TV, and was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson, and special envoys from 112 countries.
