A historical event. The United Kingdom and the entire world buried Queen Elizabeth II on Monday, who died on September 8 at the age of 96, and after 70 years of reign.
In front of 4 billion spectators, 2,200 people, including 500 heads of state and monarchs from around the world, the religious funeral at Westminster Abbey marked the official start of the day. As hundreds of thousands of citizens from around the world turned out to witness the event, a procession carried the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II up Wellington Arch, heading for Windsor.
After a funeral ceremony in the Saint-Georges chapel, the sovereign was buried in complete privacy. A day written by the queen herself.
Chrissy, the last person to be picked up in front of the queen
It was 7:30 am on Monday when the doors to Westminster Hall closed. For 5 days, the British were able to pray in front of the coffin of their monarch. Resulting in an endless queue. Chrissy Heerey is the last one who has been able to meditate in front of the coffin of Isabel II, after 8h30 of waiting.
“I did not realize that it was going to be such a privilege,” he assures the microphone of BFMTV.
The coffin procession to Westminster Abbey
It was 11:36 a.m. when Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin left Westminster Hall, where it had been on display for five days. The coffin was transferred to a Royal Navy gun cart pulled by 142 sailors.
The Queen’s children, Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, followed the procession on foot to Westminster Abbey. 2,200 people, including hundreds of world leaders, attended the religious ceremony.
A procession with the only sound of the bells of Big Ben that rang 96 times, as the era of the queen.
George and Charlotte marched behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II
Prince George, second in line to the throne, and his sister Princess Charlotte attended the religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Arriving in the same vehicle as his mother and the queen consort Camilla, the two eldest sons of Prince William, great-grandchildren of Queen Elizabeth II, appeared for the first time since the death of the monarch.
Lips tight for George, hands clasped for Charlotte, in awe, they walked behind their grandmother’s coffin alongside their parents, behind Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, and in front of their uncles, Harry and Meghan Markle.
The emotional “God Save The King” resonates during the funeral
During his sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the Anglican Church, praised the work done by Queen Elizabeth II. “Our late Majesty declared on her 21st birthday that she would dedicate her life to serving the Nation and the Commonwealth. Rarely has she kept such a promise so well,” she said at her funeral.
At the end of an hour-long ceremony, where songs and prayers alternated, and after two minutes of poignant silence, the national anthem God save the king it was sung in Westminster Abbey and throughout the country.
The procession from the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II to Wellington Arch
After the religious ceremony that ended with a vibrant God save the king, Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin, draped in the royal banner and topped with the glittering imperial crown, made its way to Wellington Arch in Hyde Park. Perched on the gun carriage, the coffin was dragged through the streets of London as millions of Britons watched, passing Buckingham Palace, the palace where she lived for 70 years.
The royal family, the children of Queen Elizabeth II and Princes William and Harry, followed this procession in front of a silent but visibly moved crowd.
At Wellington Arch, the coffin was then transferred to a hearse to head to Windsor Castle, where the monarch will be buried, 35 kilometers west of the capital. Leaving London forever, to the applause of the crowd.
More than 100 Buckingham Palace staff pay tribute to the Queen
During the procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace staff came to the gates to pay their last respects to their Queen.
6,000 soldiers and 200 musicians participated in this one kilometer long procession.
Charles’s last words to his mother
In a final gesture, King Carlos III showed his love for his mother at her funeral. On the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was placed a note written by the king that read: “With all my love and devotion.”
The impressive Long Walk procession
At 15:00 sharp local time, the royal hearse took to the Long Walk, an impressive straight alleyway of more than four kilometers that leads to Windsor Castle, the final resting place of the Queen.
To the sound of the boots of the guards of the Royal Guard, who surround the vehicle, and accompanied by the sounds of a bagpipe, the hearse moved slowly under the gaze of thousands of Britons, many of them inhabitants of this region of the west. of London, who came to pay his last respects to his queen.
For many, this is the first time they have been able to pay tribute to him, seeing this coffin still draped in the royal banner. The crowd threw many flowers at the hearse. It was also the last time the coffin was seen by the public before the Queen was laid to rest.
The corgis and the queen’s favorite horse present during the procession
Thousands of people turned out to greet the procession from London to Windsor Castle, the sovereign’s final resting place. For this last tribute, the two passions of Elizabeth II, horses and corgis, also took part in this ceremony.
Alongside The Long Walk, a 4.5km-long path that leads to Windsor Castle, the queen’s coffin conspicuously passed Emma, her favorite horse. To remember her passion for corgis, two of them, Muick and Sandy, were present in Windsor on Monday as the procession passed through the gates of the Winsdor estate.
The burial ceremony in the Saint-Georges chapel
With members of the Royal Family and Prime Ministers from the 15 kingdoms who have served with the British Sovereign as Head of State in attendance, Bishop David Conner presided over a funeral for the Queen at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
Songs, also sung at Prince Philip’s funeral last year at the same location, and prayers echoed through the chapel.
The Queen’s coffin descends into the Royal Crypt
The orb, the royal scepter and the imperial crown, royal attributes that accompanied the remains of the deceased, were removed from the upper part of the queen’s coffin. Facing King Charles III, the Lord Chamberlain “broke” the Queen’s cane and placed it on her coffin. This gesture definitively marks the end of the reign of Elizabeth II.
Then, to the sound of bagpipes, the Queen’s coffin is lowered into the crypt, where it will rest next to that of Prince Felipe. Then the national anthem God save the king was sung enthusiastically by those present in the chapel.
Source: BFM TV
