Queen Elizabeth II funeral on Sep 19; Palace announces plans to bid monarch final goodbye

The Royal Family and the whole world are mourning the death of Britain's longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who passed away at Balmoral Castle at 96 on Thursday afternoon. According to the statement released by Buckingham Palace, the State Funeral of the monarch will take place at Westminster Abbey in London on September 19, at 11 AM local time. Before the funeral, it said the Queen will Lie-in-State in Westminster Hall for four days in order to allow the public to pay their respects. Subsequently, on Monday, September 12, a Procession will be formed on the forecourt of the Palace of Holyroodhouse to convey the Coffin to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. The King and Members of the Royal Family will take part in the Procession and attend a Service in St Giles’ Cathedral to receive the Coffin.

Further, the statement mentioned that her Majesty's Coffin will then lie at rest in St Giles' Cathedral, guarded by Vigils from The Royal Company of Archers, to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects. Later on Tuesday 13th September, the Queen's Coffin will travel from Scotland by Royal Air Force aircraft from Edinburgh Airport, arriving at RAF Northolt that evening.

The Coffin will be accompanied on the journey by Princess Royal. The Queen's Coffin will then be conveyed to Buckingham Palace by road, to rest in the Bow Room. On Wednesday 14th September, the Coffin will be borne in Procession on a Gun Carriage of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, where The Queen will Lie-in-State in Westminster Hall until the morning of the State Funeral, according to the scheduled announced by the Buckingham Palace. 

The procession will travel through 8 locations

The Procession will travel via Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard. After the Coffin arrives at Westminster Hall, the Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service assisted by The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, and attended by The King and Members of the Royal Family, after which the Lying-in-State will begin. During the Lying-in-State, members of the public will have the opportunity to visit Westminster Hall to pay their respects to The Queen. On Monday 19th September, the Lying-in-State will end and the Coffin will be taken in Procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey, where the State Funeral Service will take place.

Following the State Funeral, the Coffin will travel in Procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch. From Wellington Arch, the Coffin will travel to Windsor and once there, the State Hearse will travel in Procession to St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle via the Long Walk. A Committal Service will then take place in St George's Chapel. Notably, the Queen, who was a symbol of stability in a turbulent era that saw the decline of the British empire and disarray in her own family, died after 70 years on the throne on September 8. She was 96. 

World pours condolence over death of Queen Elizabeth II

Meanwhile, following her death, world leaders poured condolence and recalled her courageous actions taken during her tenure as the monarch. The UK newly appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss, who had met with the Queen just 48 hours earlier, expressed grief over her death and said the country is “devastated”, calling Elizabeth “the rock on which modern Britain was built.” US President Joe Biden called her a “stateswoman of unmatched dignity and constancy who deepened the bedrock alliance between the United Kingdom and the United States. In India, once the “jewel in the crown” of the British empire, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted: “She personified dignity and decency in public life. Pained by her demise.”

Image: Twitter/@StPaulsLondon