Queen Elizabeth II: World leaders gather in London for state funeral
Leaders and monarchs from across the world have gathered in London to bid farewell to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth at a state funeral of inimitable pageantry, marking the passing of a beloved figure who unified the nation through her 70-year reign.
King Charles and other senior British royals followed her flag-draped coffin into Westminster Abbey on Monday at the start of her state funeral, the country’s first since 1965 when Winston Churchill was afforded the honour.
Tens of thousands of people lining the streets looked on as bagpipes skirled.
Earlier, hundreds of armed personnel in full ceremonial dress marched past in a historic display of kilts, bearskin hats, scarlet tunics and bands in white gloves.
The 2,000-strong congregation included some 500 presidents, prime ministers, foreign royal families and dignitaries including Joe Biden of the United States and leaders from France, Canada, Australia, China, Pakistan and the Cook Islands.
U.S. President Joe Biden, paid tribute to a 96-year-old who earned respect for her sense of duty and represented a constant as Britain’s role in the world diminished and changed.
“You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years,” Biden said. “We all were.”
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told the congregation that the grief felt by so many across Britain and the wider world reflected the late monarch’s “abundant life and loving service.”
“Her late majesty famously declared on a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth,” he said.
“Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love that we have seen.”
Among the crowds who came from around Britain and beyond, people were climbing lampposts and standing on barriers and ladders to catch a glimpse of the royal procession – one of the largest of its kind in modern history in the capital.
Millions more will watch on television at home on a public holiday declared for the occasion. The funeral of a British monarch has never been televised before.
The queen’s great-grandchildren, Prince George, 9, and Princess Charlotte, 7, the two eldest children of now heir-to-the-throne Prince William, will also be attending.
“As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted simply to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those countless people who have been such a support and comfort to my family and myself in this time of grief,” King Charles said in a statement.
Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at her Scottish summer home, Balmoral Castle.
Her health had been in decline, and for months the monarch who had carried out hundreds of official engagements well into her 90s had withdrawn from public life.
However, in line with her sense of duty, she was photographed just two days before she died, looking frail but smiling and holding a walking stick as she appointed Liz Truss as her 15th and finally prime minister.
Such was her longevity and her inextricable link with Britain that even her own family found her passing a 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 came to the throne in 1952, Britain’s first post-imperial monarch.
Commonwealth of Nations
She oversaw her nation trying to carve out a new place in the world, and she was instrumental in the emergence of the Commonwealth of Nations, now a grouping comprising 56 countries.
When she succeeded her father George VI, Winston Churchill was her first prime minister and Josef Stalin led the Soviet Union.
She met major figures from politics to entertainment and sport including Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Pele and Roger Federer.
Global figure
She dominated rooms with her presence and became a towering global figure, praised in death from Paris and Washington to Moscow and Beijing.
National mourning was observed in Brazil, Jordan and Cuba, countries with which she had a little direct link.
Transport chiefs said one million people were expected in central London for the funeral, while police say it will be the biggest security operation ever in the capital.
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King Charles, his siblings and sons Princes William and Harry and other members of the Windsor family will slowly walk behind the coffin as it is taken on the gun carriage to Westminster Abbey, led by some 200 pipers and drummers.
The funeral will end with the Last Post trumpet salute before the church and the nation falls silent for two minutes.
Procession
Afterwards, the coffin will be brought through central London, past the queen’s Buckingham Palace home to the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, with the monarch and the royal family following again on foot during the 1.5 miles (2.4 km) procession.
Queen Elizabeth Il’s state funeral #queensfuneral #QueenElizabethII pic.twitter.com/UMrwrh3FQI
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From there, it will be placed on a hearse to be driven to Windsor Castle, west of London, for a service at St. George’s Chapel. This will conclude with the crown, orb and sceptre – symbols of the monarch’s power and governance – being removed from the coffin and placed on the altar.
‘Wand of Office’
The Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, will break his ‘Wand of Office’, signifying the end of his service to the sovereign, and place it on the casket.
It will then be lowered into the royal vault as the Sovereign’s Piper plays a lament, slowly walking away until music in the chapel gradually fades.
Later in the evening, in 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 at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, where her parents and sister, Princess Margaret, also rest.
“We’re so happy you’re back with Grandpa. Goodbye dear grannie, it has been the honour of our lives to have been your granddaughters and we’re so very proud of you,” grandchildren Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie said.
Zainab Sa’id
