A stunning day of pageantry and processions saw the grieving King Charles III joined by monarchs and presidents from around the world, as well as the upper echelons of British society in a heartfelt farewell to the UK’s longest-serving sovereign. Three generations of royalty joined in grief as they honored the service of a queen and remembered the love of a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, known to her younger family as ‘Gan-gan’. Westminster Abbey witnessed a gathering perhaps unique in world history, with a congregation of more than 2,000 including Liz Truss and every living former prime minister, US President Joe Biden and many world leaders for a state funeral attended by hundreds of millions across the world. In an atmosphere of deep solemnity and barely suppressed emotion, the Queen’s nine-year-old great-grandson Prince George, now second in line to the throne, could be seen wiping away a tear. And later, Elizabeth II’s coffin was brought to Windsor for a more intimate service by around 800 close relatives, friends and guards at St George’s Chapel. Finally, a private burial ceremony in the castle’s King George VI Memorial was reserved for the King and members of the royal family, finally alone with their memories away from the public and television cameras. Earlier, King Charles and siblings Anne, Andrew and Edward had paid a very public tribute to their mother, walking slowly behind her coffin through the streets of the capital, followed by Princes William and Harry. APTOPIX Britain Royals Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Royals of Britain Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved Royals of Britain Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Royals of Britain Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Royals of Britain Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Royals of Britain Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Crowds of hundreds of thousands followed the route from the abbey, past Buckingham Palace to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, where the Queen’s coffin was carried in the state hearse for its final journey by road to Windsor. And outside the castle, tens of thousands more gathered for the grand procession led by pipers and military bands on the Long Walk, the hearse strewn with flowers thrown from the roadside by well-wishers. In his homily at the abbey, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby reminded the congregation of Elizabeth’s promise as a young woman to devote her whole life to the nation and the Commonwealth. “Rarely has such a promise been so well kept,” said the Archbishop. “She was joyful, present to so many, touching many lives. 220919 – Prince Andrew cries as Queen’s coffin is carried into Westminster Abbey “People who love service are rare in any walk of life. Loving service leaders are rarer still. But in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered while those who cling to power and privilege will be forgotten. “The sadness of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family but throughout the nation, the Commonwealth and the world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us.” At the end of 11 remarkable days of national mourning since her death on September 8, the archbishop said: “Few leaders have received the outpouring of love that we have seen.” Welby said he knew the new King had “the same sense of service and duty” as his mother. And to the grieving royals, he quoted the Queen’s comforting message during the Covid pandemic: “We shall meet again.” Sailors pulling the Queen’s coffin arrive at Westminster Abbey As the hour-long ceremony drew to a close, the nation fell silent as the sound of the ‘Last Post’ heralded a two-minute silence at Westminster Abbey and across the UK. Charles, his dark face bearing the marks of deep sorrow and heavy responsibility, followed the coffin out of an abbey that still echoed with thousands of voices singing “God Save the King” and a lone bagpiper playing a final lamentation. After lying in state in Westminster Hall for four days as hundreds of thousands of people streamed in to pay their respects, the Queen’s coffin was lifted from its hearse shortly after 10.30am. carriage of the Royal Navy. The carriage was taken out of active service in 1901 for Queen Victoria’s funeral and has since carried the bodies of Kings Edward VII, George V and George VI as well as Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten. It was carried by 142 Royal Navy sailors in procession to Westminster Abbey, with King Charles, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex following on foot. Princes William and Harry walked side by side behind them, their faces solemn, the Duke of Sussex in civilian clothes to reflect his status as a non-working royal. Prince Andrew – who was denied the right to wear military uniform like his brothers because of the embarrassment of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein – was visibly fighting back tears. Joining the procession at the abbey – where the Queen was married in 1947 and crowned in 1953 – were the Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales, the Duchess of Sussex and the royal great-grandchildren, including George and his seven-year-old sister Charlotte. A grieving King Charles by his mother’s coffin in Westminster Abbey (Reuters) Above the coffin was a wreath of flowers from the gardens of Buckingham Place, Clarence House and Highgrove House which bore a message from the new king: “In loving and devoted memory, Charles R.” Attendees included dozens of world and Commonwealth leaders, including Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern. Most had arrived at the abbey by bus to reduce security risks. At the end of the service, the coffin was lifted back into the carriage for a further procession through the streets of London, lined by members of all three military services with arms upturned in mourning. As a gun salute was fired in Hyde Park and Big Ben tolled at intervals, the senior royals again followed the coffin on foot, with Camilla, Kate and Meghan traveling back by car. Huge crowds gathered along Whitehall, The Mall and Constitution Hill, some crying, some bowing their heads or holding up their mobile phones as the procession passed, some burst into applause at the sight of the coffin. Tearful crowds lined the route of the funeral procession (WPA broken) Sami Fisk, a 21-year-old student from Clitheroe, came to London with his mum Naima to see the Queen lie in state on Sunday, before watching the coffin pass along Whitehall. “What’s amazing is the sense of unity,” he told the Independent. “To feel united with so many different kinds of people – people of all ages, of all colors, of all religions, from all over the country, from all over the world – is very unusual. And that’s what the Queen represents.” Vernon Bartley, a 51-year-old bricklayer from Croydon, said he became “very emotional” when he passed the Queen’s coffin, comparing it to saying goodbye to a family member. “I see her as a godmother, so I had to say goodbye to her,” he said. “When I was growing up in Jamaica, it was my dream to come to Great Britain. When I came here at 22, I saw the Queen as part of my extended family across the Commonwealth. So I’m not surprised by the way people have gathered today.” Thousands arrived in central London too late to find a place along the procession route. Some were desperate to catch a glimpse of the cemetery, cutting holes in netting, climbing railings and pressing themselves against holly bushes along the edge of Hyde Park. In Windsor, Dean David Conner performed the ceremony in a chapel founded in the 14th century by Elizabeth II’s ancestor Edward III and the site of royal burials dating back to Edward IV in 1483. Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin is carried into St George’s Chapel (PA) Paying his final respects to the late Queen, the dean said: “In our rapidly changing and often turbulent world, her calm and dignified presence gave us the confidence to face the future as she did, with courage and hope.” At the end of the service, the instruments of state received by Elizabeth at her coronation in 1953 – the orb, scepter and imperial state crown – were removed from her coffin and placed by the dean on the altar of the chapel. Apparently fighting back tears, King Charles placed the colored flag of the Queen’s Grenadier Guards camp on the coffin. And the Lord Chamberlain, former MI5 chief Lord Parker of Minnsmere, broke his wand of office and placed the pieces next to it to mark the end of his role as the monarch’s senior household member. Both the flag and the broken staff remained in the coffin, along with the royal standard, as it was lowered into the royal vault. Elizabeth II was buried next to the Duke of Edinburgh in the King George VI Memorial, which also contains the remains of George VI’s parents and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and her sister Margaret.
