The late monarch’s state funeral on Monday will be attended by 2,000 people at Westminster Abbey. Millions of people are expected to watch the telecast. The nine-year-old future king and his seven-year-old sister – who called the Queen ‘Gan Gan’ – will walk into the Gothic church with the royal family, in procession behind the Queen’s coffin. Their grandfather, King Charles, and the Queen Consort will be immediately behind the coffin. The Princess Royal and her husband, Rear-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, will follow, then the Duke of York, followed by the Earl and Countess of Wessex and then the Prince and Princess of Wales. George and Charlotte will be behind their parents, followed by their uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the royal family. After Monday’s ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the Queen’s coffin will be taken to Windsor. Credit: PA The second and third in line to the throne are also expected to officiate at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle next. The prince and princess’ four-year-old brother Prince Louis – who stole the show at the Platinum Jubilee celebrations – will not be at the service. He is likely to be considered too young to attend. At the end of the service, after The Last Post, two minutes’ silence, Reveille and the national anthem, the Queen’s Piper, Warrant Officer Class 1 (Pipe Major) Paul Burns, will play the traditional lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep . Before the service, the tenor bell will ring every minute for 96 minutes, reflecting the years of the Queen’s life. The Dean of Westminster, the Right Honorable Dr David Hoyle, will tell The Bidding: “Here, where Queen Elizabeth was married and crowned, we gather from across the nation, from the Commonwealth and from the nations of the world, to mourn our loss , to remember a long life of selfless service.” Route of the route followed by the Queen’s coffin on Monday He will speak of the Queen’s “unwavering commitment to a high calling for so many years” as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth. “We fondly recall her love for her family and her commitment to the causes she held dear,” the Dean will say. One of the hymns – The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want – was sung at the Queen’s wedding when she married the Duke of Edinburgh in the same abbey as a 21-year-old bride in 1947. It was also sung at the funeral of Queen George VI’s father at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1952, but with slightly different phrasing. The other hymns are: The day you gave, Lord, is over. and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling. The latter has often appeared at royal weddings, including William and Kate, Charles and Camilla’s wedding blessing and Princess Eugenie. Prayers will be said by the Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, for “the long life and reign of Queen Elizabeth, gratefully recalling the gifts of wisdom, diligence and service”. More details were released about the Queen’s funeral on Monday. Credit: PA The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mulally, will say a prayer for “our most noble Sovereign Charles, Camilla the Queen Consort, William Prince of Wales and all the Royal Family”. The Reverend Canon Helen Cameron, Co-ordinator of the Free Churches Group, will praise the Queen’s “unwavering devotion to duty, her compassion for her subjects and her counsel to her ministers”. The Queen’s engagement ceremony at St George’s Chapel features many pieces of music that were also heard at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in April last year and other major royal events. JS Bach’s Schmucke Dich, O Liebe Seele – Adorn Yourself, O Dear Soul – (BWV 654) an organ piece, will be played with many others as mourners wait for the service to begin. Another is Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre, a firm favorite of the royal family with the music played at the wedding of Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, and at Philip’s funeral. Nimrod by Sir Edward Elgar was heard at the Queen’s coronation in 1953 and will also be played before the committal begins. Lord Sentamu, the former Archbishop of York, is said to have been part of the team that helped devise the original order of service for the Queen’s funeral. The cleric told BBC News that the Queen knew the psalms by heart and Psalm 121 – which was also performed at the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002 – will be sung at her funeral. The service will conclude with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in No Minor (BWV 546) which will be played after the national anthem, and was heard at the end of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral. The Queen’s final journey from Buckingham Palace in our latest podcast episode
