The date of the funeral will likely be confirmed “in due course,” the assertion added. Here’s what you may anticipate to occur in the coming days.
Preparations are presently being made for her stays to be transported again to London. The coffin will first depart Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish rural retreat, for the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The property is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.
It will then probably journey in procession to Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral the place the Queen will lie in relaxation earlier than being moved right down to London. We do not but know precisely how the coffin will journey south; routes are out there by each rail and air.
How can the public pay their respects?
Historical precedent suggests that after in London, the Queen will probably lie in state at Westminster Hall, the oldest a part of the Palace of Westminster.
Past monarchs’ coffins have rested on a raised platform — or catafalque — in the center of the corridor, guarded round the clock by items from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
Brass plaques in the Eleventh-century corridor mark the spot the place Edward VII lay in state in 1910, George V in 1936, George VI in 1952 and Queen Mary a 12 months later. The corridor, which is greater than 1,000 years outdated, can also be the place wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill lay in state in 1965.
King George V’s sons additionally stood guard at his mendacity in state. The palace has but to verify who would possibly take part in the guard for the Queen.
The coffin is prone to stay there for a number of days and it is at this level that members of the public will have the ability to file previous the platform and look at the monarch’s coffin. Thousands are anticipated to queue, with some probably sleeping out in a single day in a bid to pay their respects.
What would possibly the Queen’s funeral appear to be?
As monarch, Queen Elizabeth will routinely be granted a publicly funded state funeral. It will happen at Westminster Abbey someday in the subsequent two weeks, although the actual day will likely be confirmed in the end.
The abbey was based in 960 AD by Benedictine monks, and is considered one of the most recognizable landmarks in London. It has usually been the setting for royal milestone moments like coronations, weddings and funerals all through the years.
British royal relations who maintain excessive army rank, the consort of the sovereign, and the inheritor to the throne are usually granted ceremonial royal funerals as a substitute, as was the case for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.
According to a 2013 House of Commons briefing word, the main variations between state and ceremonial funerals are {that a} state funeral requires approval by parliament and that the gun-carriage carrying the casket is drawn by Royal Navy sailors, moderately than horses.
The custom of the sailors started at Queen Victoria’s state funeral in January 1901. According to the royal household’s official web site: “The horses that were supposed to pull the gun-carriage became restless standing in the cold and were behaving in a dangerous manner, so … a team of sailors took over the task of pulling the gun carriage to St. George’s Chapel.”
A handful of non-sovereigns have been granted the honor of a state funeral, together with Isaac Newton, Horatio Nelson, the first Duke of Wellington and, in fact, Churchill.
After Churchill’s demise in 1965, it was Queen Elizabeth II who submitted a word to Parliament, stating that the wartime chief had “served his country unfailingly for more than 50 years and in the hours of our greatest danger was the inspiring leader who strengthened and supported us all.”
Where will the Queen be interred?
After the Queen’s funeral service, her coffin will make its remaining journey out of London and in the direction of Windsor. Its vacation spot is the now-familiar St George’s Chapel inside the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Prince Philip’s memorial service was held there, in addition to extra jubilant events like the nuptials of the Queen’s grandchildren.
Following the service for the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021, his coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault, set beneath the chapel, the place many royal relations have been laid to relaxation. However, with the Queen’s demise, he’s anticipated to be relocated and the pair reunited to lie collectively at the King George VI memorial chapel elsewhere inside St. George’s.
