Author of the article: Reuters Michael Holden and Kate Holton Publication date: September 19, 2022 • 2 hours ago • 5 minutes read • 11 comments Queen Elizabeth’s coffin is carried into St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle after her state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022. Photo by Andy Commins /Pool via REUTERS

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WINDSOR — Queen Elizabeth’s coffin was lowered into a vault at Windsor Castle, her final resting place, on Monday after a day of unparalleled pageantry that drew world leaders to her funeral and huge crowds lined the streets to bid farewell to a revered monarch. Hundreds of thousands of well-wishers lined her hearse’s route from London, throwing flowers, cheering and clapping as it passed through the city into the English countryside she loved so much. From our newsroom to your midday inbox, the latest headlines, stories, opinions and photos from the Toronto Sun. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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Many more had crammed into the capital to watch the procession and funeral, in a moving tribute to Britain’s longest-serving monarch who won worldwide respect during 70 years on the throne. Inside the stately Westminster Abbey where the funeral was held, some 500 presidents, prime ministers, foreign royals and dignitaries, including the United States’ Joe Biden, were among the 2,000 congregants.

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We apologize, but this video failed to load. Later, attention turned to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where around 800 guests attended a ceremony before her burial. It concluded with the crown, orb and scepter – symbols of the monarch’s power and rule – being removed from the coffin and placed on the altar. The Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, then broke his ‘Staff of Office’, signifying the end of his service to the sovereign, and placed it in the coffin before it was slowly lowered into the royal vault. As the congregation sang the national anthem, King Charles appeared to fight back tears. We apologize, but this video failed to load. Later in the evening, in a private family service, the coffin of Elizabeth and her husband of more than seven decades, Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99, will be buried together in the same chapel where her parents and sister , Princess Margaret. , also rest.

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In the same sprawling building the Queen was photographed mourning Philip alone during the pandemic lockdown, reinforcing the sense of a monarch in sync with her people during a trying time.’ At the funeral, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told those in attendance that the grief felt by so many across Britain and the wider world reflected the late monarch’s “abundant life and beloved service”. “Her late majesty famously stated in a broadcast on her 21st birthday that her entire life would be dedicated to the service of the nation and the Commonwealth,” he said. “Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we’ve seen.” We apologize, but this video failed to load. The music played at the Queen’s wedding in 1947 and her coronation six years later has been heard again. The coffin entered the lines of sheet music used at every state funeral since the early 18th century.

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After the funeral, her flag-draped casket was pulled by sailors through the streets of London in a gun carriage in one of the largest military processions seen in Britain, attended by thousands of members of the armed forces in ceremonial regalia. They strode to funeral music from marching bands, while in the background the city’s famous Big Ben tolled every minute. King Charles and other senior members of the royal family followed on foot. The coffin was carried from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch and placed in hearses to travel to Windsor where more large crowds waited patiently. Among those who came from across Britain and beyond, people climbed lampposts and stood on barriers and ladders to catch a glimpse of the royal procession.

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We apologize, but this video failed to load. Some wore smart black suits and dresses. Others were dressed in hoodies, leggings and tracksuits. A woman with dyed green hair stood next to a man in a morning suit as they waited for the procession to begin in London. Millions more watched on television at home on a public holiday declared for the occasion, the first time a British monarch’s funeral had been televised. “I’ve been coming to Windsor for 50 years,” said Baldev Bhakar, 72, a jeweler from the nearby town of Slough, speaking outside Windsor Castle. “I saw her many times over the years. I felt like she was our neighbor and she was just a wonderful woman. a beautiful queen. It was good to say a final goodbye to our neighbor.” Elizabeth died on September 8 at Balmoral Castle, her country home in the Scottish Highlands.

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Her health had declined and for months the monarch who had carried out hundreds of official engagements until she was 90 had withdrawn from public life. However, in keeping with her sense of duty, she was photographed just two days before she died, looking frail but smiling and holding a cane as she appointed Liz Truss as her 15th and final prime minister. We apologize, but this video failed to load. Such was her longevity and unbreakable bond with Britain that even her own family found her in shock. “We all thought she was invincible,” Prince William told well-wishers. The 40th sovereign in a line that traces its lineage back to 1066, Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1952, becoming Britain’s first post-imperial monarch. She oversaw her nation trying to carve out a new place in the world and was instrumental in the emergence of the Commonwealth of Nations, now a group that includes 56 countries.

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When she succeeded her father George VI, Winston Churchill was her first prime minister and Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union. He met important figures from politics to entertainment and sports, including Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, The Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Pele and Roger Federer. Despite being 1.6m tall, she dominated rooms with her presence and became a towering global figure, hailed from Paris and Washington to Moscow and Beijing. National mourning prevailed in Brazil, Jordan and Cuba, countries with which he had little direct connection. “People who love service are rare in every walk of life,” Welby said during the funeral. “Leaders of loving service 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 long forgotten.”

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We apologize, but this video failed to load. The Abbey’s tenor bell – site of coronations, weddings and burials of English and then British kings and queens for nearly 1,000 years – rang 96 times. Among the hymns chosen for the service was ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’, sung at the wedding of the Queen and her husband Philip at the Abbey in 1947. The royal cortege following the coffin at the Abbey included the Queen’s great-grandson and future king, prince george, aged nine. As well as dignitaries, the congregation included those who have been awarded Britain’s highest military and civilian medals for gallantry, representatives of charities supported by the Queen and those who have made “outstanding contributions” to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Towards the end of the service, the congregation and much of the nation fell silent for two minutes. Trumpets rang out before the congregation sang “God Save the King.” Outside, the crowds joined in and erupted in applause when the anthem ended. The Queen’s piper ended the service with a lament called ‘Sleep, Dearie, Sleep’ which faded into silence.

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