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Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral – highlights
Queen Elizabeth II was buried Monday alongside her father, King George VI, and other family members. Here are some highlights from the day.
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign’s orb and sceptre, is carried in to Westminster Abbey, London on 19 September 2022 for her State Funeral Service | Photo by Gareth Cattermole / POOL / AFP
Queen Elizabeth II was buried Monday alongside her father, King George VI, and other family members at Windsor Castle outside London, after a state funeral attended by world leaders in the heart of the British capital.
The longest-reigning monarch in British history died on 8 September aged 96.
Here are some highlights from the day.
Two minutes’ silence held in memory of Queen Elizabeth II
World leaders on Monday joined members of the public in two minutes’ silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II at her state funeral in London.
‘God Save the King’ sung at state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II
The funeral of Britain’s longest-serving monarch ended with “God Save the King”, the reworded national anthem after her son Charles’s accession.
Queen’s great-grandchildren George and Charlotte follow coffin
The Queen’s great-grandchildren George and Charlotte attended her funeral Monday, signalling the more prominent role they will now play as the children of the first-in-line for the throne.
The two eldest children of the Prince and Princess of Wales joined the funeral procession as it entered Westminster Abbey.
Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, seven, walked with their mother Catherine, Princess of Wales.
George, now second in line to the throne, wore a dark suit and tie while Charlotte wore a black dress and hat. Their younger brother Louis, four, did not take part.
The children were shown attentively looking at the order of service, seated with their mother and father, and following the coffin out of the cathedral.
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While the children are much younger, the scene evoked memories of William and his brother Harry walking behind the coffin of their mother Diana, princess of Wales, in 1997, when they were aged 15 and 12 respectively.
William told members of the public that walking behind the queen’s coffin when it was taken in a procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Wednesday had “brought back a few memories” of that event.
Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin lowered into Royal Vault
Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin was on Monday lowered into the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, bringing to an end public mourning for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The “instruments of state” with which she was crowned in 1953 — the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre — were removed from the coffin and placed on the high altar.
Her eldest son and successor, King Charles III, placed The Queen’s Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier of Guards on the coffin.
As the coffin was lowered, a lone piper played a haunting lament.
The queen’s titles were read publicly for the last time: “The late Most High, Most Mighty, and Most Excellent Monarch, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, and Sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.”
Corgis, pony play part as Queen Elizabeth laid to rest
Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved corgi dogs and her pony played a part in her funeral on Monday, witnessing the arrival of the late monarch’s coffin ahead of her committal service.
Muick and Sandy were brought into the quadrangle on leads when the late sovereign’s hearse arrived at Windsor Castle.
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The dogs were in the care of two royal pages wearing red frock coats, who stroked the dogs, one of which lay with its head on the ground.
Queen Elizabeth owned more than 30 corgis during her lifetime.
Many of the Welsh herding dogs were descended from Susan, who was given to her in 1944 by her parents as an 18th birthday present.
Meanwhile Emma the Fell Pony, owned by Queen Elizabeth for 26 years, was stood on the grass at the side of the Long Walk — the approach to Windsor Castle.
The solitary pony was stood in a gap between the hundreds of thousands of floral tributes.
The black pony’s ears twitched and she swished her tail, stomping on the ground twice with one of her front hooves as her late owner’s coffin moved past in the state hearse.
