Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral – likely to be one of the most popular events in history and an occasion carried out with elaborate, military precision throughout – has come to an end.
After a service at Windsor Castle and St George’s Chapel, the Queen’s coffin was lowered into the vault below, where also King George III, IV and V, William IV and others lie. Prince Philip, the Queen’s husband, was also buried there last year. On Monday afternoon, the Queen was to be laid to rest during a private funeral for the royal family, away from the cameras.
A day of pomp, pageantry, tradition and ceremony began early as the Queen’s coffin was carried from Westminster Hall – where it had lain in state since September 14 – to Westminster Abbey in a procession followed on foot by the new monarch, King Charles C , along with senior members of the royal family including Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.
In Westminster Abbey, the first funeral took place, a somber but spectacular event that welcomed the largest gathering of world leaders in decades. Among the 2,000 guests at Westminster Abbey were around 500 heads of state and foreign dignitaries, including Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, who arrived in the UK on Saturday, as well as France’s Emmanuel Macron. On Sunday, King Charles III hosted a special reception for 1,000 guests, including world leaders, ambassadors and other royals at Buckingham Palace, during which guests joined the country in a minute’s silence – called a National Moment of Concern – to mourn the queen’s death.
The service at the Abbey – the church where Britain’s kings and queens have historically been crowned and where Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip – lasted about an hour. It was conducted by the Dean of Westminster David Hoyle and included choral and bagpipe performances and various religious readings.
“Her Late Majesty’s example was set not by her position or her ambitions, but by whom she followed,” the Archbishop of Canterbury said in his homily. Seated near the coffin was Charles with his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, Princess Anne and her husband, Timothy Lawrence. Behind them were Prince Harry, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and Princess Beatrice. Also attending Westminster Abbey was Killing Eve actress Sandra Oh as part of the Canadian delegation as a member of the Order of Canada.
The service was followed by two minutes of national silence, after which a military procession took the casket, draped in royal regalia and carrying the imperial crown, through the streets of London to the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, where it was transferred to hearses . The hearse then drove to London and Windsor, where it walked up the famous Long Walk, the avenue of chestnut trees leading to Windsor Castle, flanked by units of the Household Cavalry, Grenadier Guards and the Queen’s Company and to the sound of bagpipes and drums, while ceremonial cannons were fired every minute.
In the chapel of St. given to the queen at her coronation, they were removed from the top of the coffin and placed on the altar. In another deeply ceremonial element of the service, a visibly moved Charles placed the Queen’s Command Camp Color on the coffin after receiving it from the lieutenant-colonel of the Grenadier Guards regiment.
Billions of people around the world are expected to have tuned in to watch the day’s events, one of the most meticulously organized in British history, while around 2 million people lined the streets of London and Windsor to watch the procession pass. Many camped out overnight or arrived in the early hours of Monday to pay their respects to the late queen, who has been head of state for 70 years. As the hearse drove past, many threw flowers on the road.
When she died peacefully at the age of 96 in Balmoral, Scotland on September 8, Queen Elizabeth II was Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and the longest-serving female head of state in history. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to achieve a Jubilee Sapphire, completing 65 years in power. (She had overtaken Victoria in 2015 to become the longest-serving British monarch ever). He was also, without a doubt, one of the most recognizable figures in the world, as well as one of the most visible on screen.
Her death caused an outpouring of emotion and a flood of tributes from around the world.
“The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty the Queen, is a moment of great sadness for me and all members of my family,” Charles, who ascended the throne soon after her death, said in a statement. “We deeply mourn the death of a beloved sovereign and a much-loved mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt in the country, the spheres and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world. During this time of mourning and change, my family and I will be comforted and sustained by our knowledge of the respect and deep affection in which the Queen was so widely held.”
