The world says goodbye to Elizabeth II this Monday at a grand funeral in London, where dignitaries from around the world will pay tribute to a sovereign with an incredible destiny, who has dedicated her 70-year reign to making the British crown shine.
After 10 days of national mourning, tributes and rituals at the centenary bomb, 2,000 people are expected for a religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey at 12 midnight (French time).
In the audience, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Emperor Naruhito, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan has been announced. After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was not invited. On the other hand, the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, made the trip.
The coffin will arrive at the abbey in procession at 12 noon, followed on foot by King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla, Kate Middleton and Prince William, their children George and Charlotte, and then Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. .
Prime Minister’s speech
On the program of the ceremony: religious songs, readings from the Bible and a sermon by Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. During the royal procession, the passage from the Gospel according to Saint John “I am the resurrection and the life” (11,25) will be read.
A speech by Premier Liz Truss is scheduled. It will be accompanied by addresses by Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and David Hoyl, Dean of Westminster.
Matthew Jorysz, the Westminster organist, will play several pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Johann Sebastian Bach and Edward Elgar before the service. The new pieces have been composed for the occasion by British musicians Judith Weir and Irish musician Sir James MacMillan.
Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, will also give a reading, which will be interspersed with hymns such as The day that You gave Lord is over Y Divine love, all loves stand out.
another anthem, The Lord is My Shepherd, will be sung by the crowd gathered in the abbey. A piece that had already been sung at the wedding of Elizabeth II with Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in 1947.
two minutes of silence
The ceremony will conclude once the sound of the last post, tribute to fallen soldiers in the British Army. Two minutes of silence will follow, around 12:55 p.m.
The Queen’s burial will take place at 8:30 p.m. in a ceremony reserved for close relatives in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, on the western outskirts of the capital.
This state funeral, the first since Winston Churchill’s in 1965, could be among the most watched television events in history. They will be broadcast on giant screens and in theaters across the country.
The ceremony, scheduled to last an hour and during which dozens of flights have been canceled so that the noise does not disturb the solemnity of the moment, will be broadcast on giant screens in London and throughout the United Kingdom.
Source: BFM TV
