Know how much Queen's funeral expected to cost as UK prepares for grandest of farewells

The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is being held at London's Westminster Abbey on Monday, ten days after she passed away on September 8. According to reports, years of preparation went into planning Queen Elizabeth's funeral, and her demise has put into action a detailed plan set in the 1960s called "Operation London Bridge." The public can only speculate as to how much the funeral would cost because all the procedures and associated expenses have been kept a secret, Sputnik reported. 

Queen Elizabeth's state funeral is expected to cost over $10.1 million: Reports

According to multiple reports, Queen Elizabeth's state funeral is anticipated to cost more than $10.1 million (over Rs 65 crore), however, no official figure has been announced. Notably, this expectation is based on previous royal ceremonies. In the UK, state funerals are publicly funded, and attendance at the Queen's funeral is anticipated to be around 750,000. As a result, the London security officials have braced themselves to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Despite the fact that Westminster Abbey normally holds 2,200 congregants, additional chairs are expected to be arranged there to accommodate more than 8,000 people. 

Although there is no recent example of the cost of a state funeral, previous royal events can provide some idea of how much funding is needed to arrange such events. According to reports, the estimated expenses for Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 is $3.4-5.5 million. Back then, it was dubbed as one of the biggest televised events in history as 2,000 people attended the ceremony at Westminster Abbey, and around 2.5 billion people watched it on television across the world. 

The biggest royal funeral

Meanwhile, the funeral for the Queen Mother cost the British people over $5.7 million. She passed away in 2022 at the age of 101 and was buried next to her husband, King George VI, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth's husband, passed away in 2021 and only 30 people attended the small funeral procession owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, Queen Elizabeth II's funeral is expected to be the biggest royal funeral as it will be attended by several world leaders as well as members of other royal families from across Europe. 

Image: AP