Morpeth mum's surprise at seeing son carrying the Queen's coffin

David Sanderson, front right, was one of eight pallbearers carrying the lead-lined, oak coffin

The mother of one of the Queen's pallbearers had no idea he would be carrying the late monarch's coffin.

David Sanderson, 19, from Morpeth, was one of eight soldiers from the Queen's Company 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, to bear the oak casket in London and Windsor.

Carolyn Sanderson said she was "beyond proud" of her son.

"We were looking at some photographs of the rehearsal and my husband said it looked like our David," she said.

"I looked and said 'of course it is!'

"He will never forget this. He looked after her from the very start to her last journey."

The pallbearers carried out their duties under the gaze of millions around the world

The lead-lined coffin weighed about 550lbs (250kg) and was draped in the Royal Standard. 

Guardsman Sanderson, a former pupil at King Edward VI School in Morpeth, was supporting the front left of the casket.

He enlisted three years ago, training at Harrogate and Catterick Garrison before joining the Grenadier Guards, the same regiment with which his late grandfather John Sanderson carried out national service, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The Queen had strong links to the regiment, which is the British Army's most senior infantry division and known for its distinctive red tunics and tall black bearskin caps.

Guardsman Sanderson's mother said she had only spoken to him briefly since the funeral.

"I had just stopped crying about the Queen and I started crying about David," she said. "Seeing him on the television going to Westminster Abbey was just amazing, I just lost it - that's our David.

"They were all brilliant, I think it was perfect."