HM Queen’s Funeral
World leaders including US President Joe Biden and hundred of Presidents of foreign countries were among the guests who witnessed the Abbey Service remember Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth’s final farewell. Earlier, King Charles III led the procession behind his mother’s coffin from Westminster Hall to Abbey.
The Queen’s coffin was conveyed in the first three processions throughout the day – through Parliament Square, a distance of 820ft (250m). the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex walked side-by-side behind their father the King, alongside his siblings, the Queen’s four children.
The procession from the Abbey saw State Gun Carriage carry the coffin, drawn by 142 sailors, a guard of honour stood in the square made up of all three military services. As they walked to the Abbey the royals were accompanied by the Massed Pipes and Drums of Scottish and Irish regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Royal Air Force, and the tolling of the Abbey bell.
Former prime ministers John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson are at the historic Abbey ahead of the ceremony. Millions of people will be watching the funeral across the country and around the world, with the Queen the head of state of 14 realms throughout the Commonwealth.
During his sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury said the late Queen touched “a multitude of lives” during her 70-year reign.
Following the service, the coffin will be drawn in a walking procession from the Abbey to Wellington Arch, at London’s Hyde Park Corner, to the somber toll of Big Ben. Gun Salutes will also fire every minute from Hyde Park during the procession and people can watch in person from designated viewing areas along the route. Once at Wellington Arch, at about 13:00, the coffin will be transferred to the new State Hearse for its final journey to Windsor Castle, where the Queen’s coffin will enter St George’s Chapel for a committal service. At a private family service late, the Queen will be buried alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the King George VI memorial chapel, located inside St George’s Chapel.