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The King said that he and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were “moved beyond measure” by everyone who took the time to pay their respects. “As we get ready to say farewell for the last time, I just wanted to say thank you,” he said.
The state funeral began at 11:00 BST at Westminster Abbey. About 2,000 people, including 500 presidents, prime ministers, and foreign royals from all over the world, are at the ceremony. The King is leading the country in mourning for the monarch who was in power the longest.
In a written message released by Buckingham Palace, the King said, “Over the last 10 days, my wife and I have been so deeply touched by the many messages of condolences and support we have received from this country and around the world.”
We were deeply touched by everyone who came to London, Edinburgh, Hillsborough, and Cardiff to honour the lifelong service of my late mother, the Queen. “As we all prepare to say our last goodbyes, I just wanted to take this chance to say thank you to all the many people who have helped and comforted my family and me during this sad time.”
On the day before the Queen’s funeral, Buckingham Palace also released a picture of her that no one had ever seen before. Ranald Mackechnie took the picture just before the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations in May. It shows the queen beaming at the camera in her Windsor Castle home.
She is wearing a blue dress, her favourite three-strand pearl necklace, pearl earrings, and her aquamarine and diamond brooches, which were gifts from her father, George VI, on her 18th birthday in 1944 and which she will also wear on the 75th anniversary of VE Day in 2020.
On Sunday night, heads of state who were going to the funeral were invited to a party at Buckingham Palace by King Charles. Later, at 20:00, everyone in the UK stopped what they were doing for a minute of silence. This week, tens of thousands of people lined up to see the Queen’s body lie in state, which ended at 6:30 a.m. on Monday. On Sunday night, around 22:40, the line stopped taking new people.
At 10:44, the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy took her body from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey. King Charles followed the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, and the Earl of Wessex as they walked. The Queen’s grandsons, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, and Peter Phillips, were standing behind them.
Prince George and Princess Charlotte will also be at the funeral for the Queen. People could expect “a lot of grandeur and pomp” from the service, said Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who will give the sermon. He also said that he hoped it would help the Queen’s family “find a measure of comfort in the glare of publicity.”
Again, I hope that the readings and prayers will reflect the Queen’s personality and character. “You’ll think that this service was fit not only for a Queen, but also for this person,” he added. After the service, the coffin will be walked from the Abbey to Wellington Arch, near Hyde Park Corner in London.
As the parade slowly moves through the streets of the capital, the military and police will line the route and Big Ben will ring every minute. After looking into a “minor technical issue” that kept the bell from ringing on Sunday after the national minute of silence, Parliament officials said they were sure the bell would ring during the procession.
During the procession, gun salutes will go off every minute from Hyde Park, and people can watch in person from places set up along the route. Once at Wellington Arch, the coffin will be moved to the new State Hearse and driven to Windsor Castle for the last time. There, the Queen’s body will be laid to rest in St. George’s Chapel.
The Dean of Windsor, David Conner, will lead the committal service, which will only have about 800 guests. The Archbishop of Canterbury will bless the service. Later, the Queen and her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, will be buried together at the King George VI memorial chapel inside St. George’s Chapel during a private family service.
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