Churchill dies

Winston Churchill died on 24 January 1965, 70 years to the day after the death of his father. The Times still had advertisements on the front page - they ended on 3 May 1966 - but on the announcement of Churchill’s death, an exception was made and the sombre news was promoted to the front page. Not even the Coronation had received this treatment.

The Times, 25 January 1965
The British Library gratefully acknowledges the John Frost Newspaper Archive for permission to reproduce this front page.

Churchill was honoured with a state funeral, the first for a non-royal family member since William Gladstone in 1898. His body lay in state in Westminster Hall for three days and a service was held at St Paul's Cathedral. Thousands lined the streets on that bitter morning and millions more watched on television.