The unusually shaped mirror and sword of more than 2 meters were discovered at the Tomiomaruyama kofun, Japan’s largest round kofun, which was created in the second half of the fourth century. Hundreds of thousands of mourners are expected to line the route of the silent procession, similar to the state funeral of her father, King George VI, in 1952. After the funeral she will travel to Windsor Castle, where she will be laid to rest in St George’s Chapel alongside Prince Philip. The route the coffin will take Experts believe that the sword was a ceremonial instrument to ward off evil, not a weapon, due to its large size.

Until this discovery, the bronze mirror discovered at the Hirabaru ruins in Fukuoka Prefecture had the largest mirror surface, which is 46.5 cm in diameter. After the coffin arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Sunday, it will rest in the Throne Room until the afternoon of Monday. The cortege is expected to leave the castle on Royal Deeside - where the Queen died on Thursday - at 10am on Sunday morning. The patterns are identical to the patterns inscribed on a type of ancient mirror called “Daryukyo.” Daryukyo is a type of mirror that was made in the Japanese archipelago in the Kofun Period. Seigo Wada, director of the Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Archaeology, who gave advice on the excavation, said, “I wonder about the status of the person buried with the objects, as the individual was interred with a very unusual sword and mirror. There is high expectation for the study of the contents of the coffin, too.”

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On Wednesday at 2.22pm, adorned with the Imperial State Crown, the coffin will be taken in procession on a Gun Carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery to the Palace of Westminster, where she will lie in state in Westminster Hall for four days. The Queen will lie in state until 6.30am on Monday, when the coffin will be taken to Westminster Abbey for her state funeral. It will then travel in a procession to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, along the Royal Mile with the King and the late Queen's other children the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex following behind on foot, along with Anne's husband Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

He added: "We understand that the public will want to show their respects to Her Majesty and we would urge them to do so safely." They believe that no robber had opened the wooden coffin to pilfer its contents as it was found in good condition. Camilla, now Queen Consort, and the Countess of Wessex will follow by car and also attend the service in St Giles'.The Nara Municipal Buried Cultural Properties Research Center, which excavates and researches kofun, and the Nara prefectural Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, which assists in the excavation, announced the discoveries on Jan. 25. NARA--Researchers have unearthed a shield-shaped bronze mirror and massive iron sword in an ancient kofun burial mound here, unprecedented discoveries of their kind in Japan. During the current fiscal year, experts excavated a part of the kofun called "tsukuridashi," which is a projected part in the middle portion of the burial mound, and found a burial facility housing a 5-meter-long wooden coffin.