If the state funeral is the nation’s farewell, the committal at St George’s Chapel will have a more personal air, with the congregation including many of those loyal staff, past and present, who worked for her in the homes and estates her. Around 800 people are expected to attend the service, in which highly symbolic moments will mark the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign as monarch. The instruments of state, the imperial state coronet, orb and sceptre, will be removed from her coffin by the jeweler of the crown, and, together with the quartermaster and sergeant-at-arms, will be delivered to the Dean of Windsor, who will place them in altar of the chapel of Agios Georgios. They will later be transferred back to the custody of the Tower of London. At the end of the last hymn, the King will place the camp color of the Queen of Grenadier Guards on the coffin. The Grenadier Guards are the most senior of the Foot Guards regiments and the Queen was their commander-in-chief. Queen Elizabeth II at St. George’s Chapel during the funeral of Prince Philip, April 17, 2021. Photo: Yui Mok/AP At the same time, the Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, will ceremonially “break” his staff of office, the white staff that is one of the symbols of his office, and place it in the coffin. It marks the end of his service to her as a dominant. The current Lord Chamberlain is former M15 spy chief Baron Parker of Minnsmere. The last time this tradition was performed was in 1952, over the coffin of George VI. As the coffin is lowered into the royal vault, the Eulogy before the Garter King of Arms will pronounce the Queen’s styles and titles. King George VI’s tiny chapel houses the remains of the Queen’s father, George VI, her mother, the Queen Mother and her sister, Princess Margaret. When Philip died 17 months ago, his coffin was buried in St George’s Vault, ready to be moved to the memorial when the Queen died. At the end, as at the funeral of her husband, Prince Philip, the sovereign’s piper will play a lament from the doorway between the chapel and the Dean’s cloister, during which he will walk slowly towards the deanery in the cloister, so that the music inside the chapel gradually fades. The Archbishop of Canterbury will give the benediction, which will be followed by the hymn God Save the King. Thousands are expected to line the streets to watch the cortege as the Queen’s coffin, in the state hearse, makes its way through the city. During the ceremony the Sevastopol bell will ring. Captured by the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Sevastopol in the Crimea in 1856, it hangs in the Round Tower, and only tolls for the death of the senior kings. The bells of the Curfew Tower at Windsor Castle will also be rung. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. At 3.06pm, the state hearse, having driven from London, will approach Shaw Farm Gate in Albert Road, Windsor, and join the procession. At 3.10pm, the procession will leave, following a route from Albert Road to St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, via the Long Walk, Cambridge Drive and George IV Gate. At about 3.40 p.m. the King and other members of the royal family walking in the procession will join Castle Square. The procession will be led by a dismounted detachment of the Regiment of Household Cavalry, followed by a mounted section of the Sovereign’s Continuity, and pipes and drums will gather. Fine guns will be fired by the King’s Army, Royal Horse Artillery from the Castle throughout the procession to the steps of St George’s Chapel. Inside the chapel, the congregation will include governors-general and prime ministers of the realm, as well as the Queen’s personal staff past and present. The Military Knights of Windsor, Honorary Bodyguards, will be on duty. The committal will begin at 4 p.m. The service will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor, but prayers will be said by other churches he regularly attended: the rector of Sandringham, the minister of Crathy Kirk and the chaplain of Windsor Great Park. A private funeral service will be held at 7:30 p.m. which will only be attended by the King and members of the family, before Queen Elizabeth II is laid to rest alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the King George VI Memorial.
