Churchill's Lying-in-State ticket

Churchill died on 24 January 1965, at the age of 90. Arrangements for his state funeral began much earlier, in 1957. The project was codenamed ‘Operation Hope Not' and it was decided that this funeral should follow along the lines of Wellington's, except that Churchill would lie in state in Westminster Hall, as Gladstone had done.

While Churchill's lying state was a public event, passes such as these would have allowed their bearers to stay in allocated positions in Westminster Hall, rather than to file in procession with the general public. This ticket would have been reserved for the wife of a peer or MP, however, many of these passes would have been used by newspaper reporters, photographers and film crews.