Britain readies to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth: all about the funeral

On Monday, Britain will bid adieu to its beloved Queen Elizabeth II in a state funeral that will be led by her son and new King Charles and attended by leaders and royalty from across the globe.

The 96-year-old queen, who died at her summer residence of Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, is lying-in-state at Westminster Hall before the funeral at Westminster Abbey on the morning of September 19. She is draped in her Royal Standard and capped with a diamond-studded crown.

The funeral will culminate an 11-day mourning period across the United Kingdom.

At 8 pm on Sunday, Britain will hold a minute of silence to pay tributes to the “life and legacy” of Elizabeth, the longest reigning monarch, ahead of the funeral.

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The funeral service at Westminster Abbey and related processions will be telecast live by channels including the BBC, ITV and Sky, and screened on big screens in various parts of UK including London.

Media personnel from across the world have arrived at the British capital to cover the grand farewell of Elizabeth Windsor. Serpentine crowds have gathered at prominent city junctions including The Mall, the big road in central London that connects Buckingham Place with Trafalgar Square to catch the last glimpses of the queen.

The UK government has declared a public holiday for the funeral which being the first such since Winston Churchill, is anticipated to attract a crowd bigger than the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997, the 2012 London Olympics and royal weddings.

Hospitals have rescheduled non-urgent surgeries, while restaurants including McDonald’s have decided to keep shutters down till 5 pm on Monday. Heathrow Airport has also cancelled some flights on Monday to “avoid noise disruption” during the funeral.

While grieving crowds have paid tributes to Elizabeth Windsor as her oak coffin travelled through Scotland to London, a five-mile long crowd of mourners has already lined up outside the Westminster Abbey, along the stretch of the Thames, to bid a final goodbye to their queen.

US President Joe Biden will lead the foreign dignitaries who are arriving from several corners of the world to attend the funeral. New king Charles will be the chief mourner.

How will the funeral pan out

According to reports, the funeral is scheduled to start at 11 am on Monday and end with two minutes of national silence before noon.

On Monday, mourners will have time till 6.30 am to pay their last respects to the queen at Westminster Hall, after which the casket will be carried to the funeral location at around 10.44 am on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy, which will be drawn by 142 sailors, in a tradition dating back to the time of Queen Victoria.

Around 200 musicians from the masses Pipes and Drums of the Scottish and Irish Regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Air Force will lead the procession.

The queen’s carriage will be followed by the royal family led by King Charles and sons Prince William and Prince Harry in a procession that is set to reach Westminster Abbey by 10.52 am.

The state funeral will start at sharp 11 am at Westminster Abbey. The service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster David Hoyle and would include readings of scripture by British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Patricia Scotland, the secretary general of the Commonwealth. A final farewell will be given by the archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

Around 2,000 people including world leaders and royalties will be present at the Westminster Abbey to participate in the service.

At 11.55 am, the Last Post, a bugle call announcing events on a military installation, will be played followed by a two-minute national silence.

Reville, the national anthem and a lament played by the Queen’s piper will wrap the funeral service at around 12 noon.

The coffin will be next taken in a procession to reach Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner at around 1 pm. There the queen will be placed in the state hearse and carried toward her final resting place at Windsor.

The committal service will begin at 4 pm and the funeral will be concluded with a private internment at 7.30 pm at the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle when the queen will be lowered into the grave to rest alongside her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away last year.

World leaders arrive for Queen’s last journey

Leaders from across the world have arrived to attend the funeral although the Buckingham Palace has said it wouldn’t release an official guest list. Russia has not been invited due to its invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan, however will attend the event at the invitation of the British government.

Indian President Droupadi Murmu has already reached UK to attend the reception for world leaders hosted at Buckingham Palace by King Charles on Sunday evening and the funeral the next day.

“President Droupadi Murmu emplanes for London, United Kingdom, to attend the state funeral of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and offer condolences on behalf of the Government of India,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted as the plane departed from Delhi earlier.

“In the 70 years of reign of HM Queen Elizabeth II, India-UK ties have evolved, flourished and strengthened immensely. She played an important role in the welfare of millions of people around the world as Head of the Commonwealth,” the MEA statement read.

US President Joe Biden accompanied by first lady Jill Biden has arrived in London to pay his respects to the queen. Biden is expected to sign the official condolence book and attend the Sunday reception at Buckingham Palace before attending the queens funeral.

Elizabeth’s grandchildren stand in silent vigil

As London buzzed with mourners trickling into the capital to watch the queen’s funeral, all eight grandchildren of Elizabeth stood in silent vigil beside her coffin on Saturday.

Honouring the patience of thousands of people who waited for up to 16 hours notwithstanding London’s coldest night in months to see the queen, King Charles and his eldest son Prince William made an unannounced visit on Saturday to greet people waiting to file past Elizabeth’s coffin, shaking hands and thanking mourners in the queue near Lambeth Bridge.

Later, all the queen’s grandchildren stood by her coffin. William and Prince Harry were joined by Princess Anne’s children, Zara Tindall and Peter Philips; Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and the two children of Prince Edward – Lady Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.

William, now the heir to the throne, stood, his head bowed, at the head of the coffin and Harry at the foot. Both princes, who are military veterans, were in uniform. Mourners continued to file past in silence as the grandchildren stood vigil. Harry, who served in Afghanistan as a British army officer, wore civilian clothes during the procession of the queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace because he is no longer a working member of the royal family. He and his wife Meghan quit royal duties and moved to the United States in 2020. The king, however, requested that both William and Harry wear their military uniforms at the Westminster Hall vigil.

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Before the vigil, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie issued a statement praising their beloved grannie.

“We, like many, thought you’d be here forever. And we all miss you terribly. You were our matriarch, our guide, our loving hand on our backs leading us through this world. You taught us so much and we will cherish those lessons and memories forever,” the sisters wrote.

(With inputs from agencies)