The Queen's funeral: The Queen's coffin will be carried by historic gun carriage that has served state funerals for 120 years - and has been preserved in Portsmouth

Bearing the Queen’s coffin as it travels from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey will be the State Funeral Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, a historical vehicle that has borne some of the nation’s most important figures.

The gun carriage was first used in a state funeral in 1901, when the Royal Navy saved Queen Victoria’s funeral from being upended.

With skittish horses risking the carriage and coffin’s safe passage, Royal Navy personnel stepped in and saved the day by pulling the vehicle themselves.

Since then, the carriage has borne Kings George V, VI, and VII, as well as Lord Louis Mountbatten and former prime minister Winston Churchill.

And thanks to the careful preservation work at HMS Excellent in Whale Island, the carriage is once again ready to take a historic figure to their funeral service.

Held at 24 hours’ readiness to move, the carriage’s safekeeping is the responsibility of the official historian of HMS Excellent, Lieutennt Commander Paul Barker.

Lieuntenant Commander Barker, who lives on Hayling Island, is a former State Ceremonial Training Officer at HMS Collingwood, where he played a major role in the Diamond Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics.

Now, keeping the carriage fit for a Queen is a job that keeps the Royal Navy veteran busy.

He said: 'You know where all the scratches are, that’s for sure.

‘It gets cleaned weekly, and I turn the wheels a quarter-inch each week as that stops them from going egg shaped.

'We had an older gentleman in his 80s looking after it before me – it's in very very good condition, there's no rust on it.

'It will undergo a refurbishment some time in the future - but in theory, it will stand prepared for the next state funeral.'

Stephen Prince, head of the Naval Historical Branch, said the historical significance of the carriage was not lost on the Royal Navy nor the Royal Family.

He said: 'I think it’s a tradition that for as long as the Royal Family are content, the Armed Forces are here to deliver what the Royal Family’s preference may be.’

Reflecting on how the nation will look back on Queen Elizabeth II in 120 years’ time, the historian said that there was one quality of her life that will shine bright.

He said: ‘I think people will still be very impressed with the enormous sense of duty and conduct that the Queen brought to her reign.’

He added: ‘I have been very fortunate to meet the Queen on a couple of occasions and speak to her.

‘The last occasion was in 2011 when the Duke of Edinburgh was being installed as the Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom.

‘It was very pleasant – she was very good at putting you at your ease. We were looking at some of the material pertaining to Prince Philip’s naval career – she said, “this was before my time”.

Lieutenant Commander Barker also has fond memories of meeting the late Queen on several occasions, agreeing with Stephen that her personable nature was a lasting memory.

He said: 'The Queen gave me my MBE in 2013. She was a lovely lady. You always go in very nervous and anxious, as you would expect. But she had one of those smiles that would relax you. You just realised she was a human being. We had a chat - but you keep those sorts of chats secret.'