Lying in State

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been lying in state in Cape Town. In other parts of the world, it is a rare exception for someone to lie in state. In South Africa, the smallest to the greatest "lie in state", for people to pay their last respects. I have attended many funerals where people lay in state: a farm labourer, a schoolgirl, a local official, and so on. But those of European descent do not do that. I cannot think of an example. OBSERVATION: I am not sure whether the Archbishop would be lying in state in the Western or the African tradition--or both.

POSTSCRIPT: See a comment on my blog. "Archbishop Tutu is officially Lying in Repose, and not in State as the venue is private property and not State property." The Oxford Dictionary definition of lying-in-state is "the display of the corpse of a public figure for public tribute".