The riding boots of Lance Bombardier Ciara Sullivan were carried reversed in her horseâs stirrups as the Kingâs Troop Royal Horse Artillery soldier was laid to rest in London.
Family, friends, regimental senior staff and military colleagues filled The Guardsâ Chapel at Wellington Barracks to pay their respects to the 24-year-old, who died after falling from her horse at the Royal Windsor Horse Show on 15 May.
LBdr Sullivanâs horse Neymar carried her boots in the funeral procession, a traditional military sign of a final journey.
The riderless horse, also known in ceremonial tradition as a caparisoned horse, represents the absent rider.
The empty saddle marks the loss, while the reversed boots symbolise that the soldier is taking one final look back.
LBdr Sullivanâs coffin, draped in the Union flag, travelled by gun carriage from The Royal Mews to The Guardsâ Chapel, while state trumpeters from The Band of the Household Cavalry played fanfares on its arrival.
A three-round volley was fired in Wellington Barracks after the service, and LBdr Sullivanâs personal items, including her cap and medals, were presented to her family.
Flags flew at half-mast at all Army buildings in London in her honour.
Floral tributes spelling out âSullyâ, the name used by her friends, were placed among photographs showing her in uniform and riding her horse.
LBdr Sullivan, who served with the Kingâs Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, suffered fatal injuries after falling at about 7pm after exiting the arena at the Royal Windsor Horse Show.
She joined the Army Training Centre in Pirbright in November 2020 and entered the Kingâs Troop in June 2021.
During her service, she took part in major ceremonial duties including the late Queenâs state funeral in 2022 and the coronation of King Charles and Queen Camilla in 2023.
LBdr Sullivan was involved in multiple royal gun salutes in Hyde Park and Green Park.
She had recently qualified as an advanced regimental riding instructor and was known for developing young horses and training military ones.
She also gave riding lessons to mounted gunners in her sub-section and was often chosen to instruct officers within the Kingâs Troop.
In a tribute issued after LBdr Sullivan death, her commanding officer said: âLance Bombardier (LBdr) Ciara Sullivan, âSullyâ to her friends, was to all who had the privilege of serving alongside her, a bright light in any room she entered.
âAn immensely professional soldier and an exceptional jockey, she approached every day within The Troop with an infectious energy â the kind that lifted those around her without effort or intention â and was unfailingly present for her comrades in both the small moments and the hard ones.â
Buckingham Palace previously said the King was âgreatly shocked and saddenedâ by her death and would share his condolences with her family.
