Queen Elizabeth II: Funeral details revealed

LONDON –

Two minutes of silence will be observed across the UK on Monday at the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey, giving the British public across the country a chance to pay their respects to the late monarch.

Buckingham Palace released further details on Thursday of the state funeral of the Queen who died on September 8 at age 96 and her private interment later on Monday. His death during his beloved summer retreat at Balmoral Castle ended the monarch’s 70-year reign.

Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, the head of arrangements, said the funeral and events over the next few days are meant to « unite people across the world and resonate with people of all faiths, while delivering His Majesty and the wish of his family to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign. »

Tens of thousands of people lined up on Thursday that meandered more than four miles along the River Thames in London, waiting to file in silence past his coffin.

« The Queen has held a unique and timeless position in all of our lives. This has been felt more keenly in recent days as the world comes to terms with her passing, » Fitzalan-Howard said.

On Friday evening, King Charles III and his siblings will watch over their mother’s coffin for 15 minutes as it lies undisturbed in the 900-year-old Westminster Hall in Parliament. Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward also stood vigil with the coffin when it lay in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh earlier this week.

Following Monday’s state funeral, attended by 2,000 guests including US President Joe Biden and other visiting heads of state, Elizabeth’s coffin will be carried through the heart of historic London, from Westminster Abbey at Wellington’s Arch near Buckingham Palace on a horse. gun carriage with Charles and other royals walking behind.

Funeral guests will also include nearly 200 people honored by the late Queen for their work in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in sectors such as charities, health and education.

Amid the pomp and pageantry, the coffin will follow virtually the same route, including along the flag-lined mall to the one it passed past a crowd of mourners on Wednesday when it was been transported from the Palace to the Houses of Parliament.

London Heathrow Airport has announced it will halt all flights for 15 minutes before Monday’s two-minute nationwide silence, until 15 minutes after it ends « to avoid noise disturbance ».

From London, the Queen’s coffin will then be driven in the State Hearse to Windsor for a laying-off service at St George’s Chapel near Windsor Castle, attended by 800 people, including members of the House of the queen and staff at the Windsor Estate.

At the end of the service, the coffin will be lowered into the Royal Vault and the sovereign’s piper will play a lament. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will deliver the blessing and the congregation will sing ‘God Save The King’.

Members of the Royal Family will then hold a private funeral service at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, where the Queen will be buried with her late husband Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99.