Jersey soldier awarded honour for role in Queen's funeral

Guardsman Fletcher Cox, first from left, has been awarded the Silver Royal Victorian Medal alongside other military personnel

A soldier from Jersey has been given a "unique" award by the King for carrying the Queen's coffin at her funeral.

Guardsman Fletcher Cox was one of the soldiers in red uniform who carried the coffin into Westminster Abbey and St Georges Chapel in Windsor.

The state funeral took place on 20 September 2022, and was attended by more than 2,000 people.

Guardsman Cox has been awarded the Silver Royal Victorian Medal alongside the other pallbearers.

In a statement, the Army said it was a role its personnel had prepared for "for many years".

It said: "Personnel from across the Armed Forces played a key role in the funeral and preceding days of Her Majesty lying at rest in Scotland and London, providing the Guard of Honour, Bearer Party, Pall Bearers, musicians, horsemen and women, and countless personnel behind the scenes from all ranks and roles.

"The State Funeral of Her Majesty at Westminster Abbey saw soldiers, sailors and airmen, both long-served and fresh out of training give one last act of love and dedication to their late Commander in Chief."

'Very proud moment'

Former detachment commander for Jersey's army cadet force, Chris Rayner, said people from the unit knew Mr Cox would go on to do "great things".

"It's not a surprise, I think at the time when everybody was commenting on how impeccable they were and what an amazing job they did with the full gaze of the world that they would get some sort of recognition for doing so and yes he has, which is absolutely fitting," he said.

"It was a very proud moment to see that somebody from Jersey who'd been a cadet and gone through the system was involved in such a moment in history."

The other soldiers, from the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, were L/Sgt Alex Turner, L/Cpl Tony Flynn, L/Sgt Elias Orlowski, Guardsman James Patterson, L/Sgt Ryan Griffiths, Guardsman Luke Simpson, and Guardsman David Sanderson.

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