Presidents, kings, princes, and prime ministers attended the state funeral held on Monday in honor of Queen Elizabeth II, whose 70-year reign defined an era. Crowds gathered along the streets of London to pay their respects to the monarch.
The doors of the 900-year-old Westminster Hall were closed to mourners early in the morning after hundreds of thousands had gathered in front of her flag-draped coffin, signaling the start of a day full of activities in London and Windsor. Many people had lined up for hours, some of them through chilly nights, to witness the lying in state as a show of community sorrow and respect.
“I felt compelled to visit and offer my last respects to our magnificent queen. She has done so much for us, and all we can say is a sincere “thank you from the people,” said Tracy Dobson, one of the last persons in line.
The first state burial since Winston Churchill’s was a spectacle in a nation renowned for pomp and grandeur. 142 Royal Navy sailors dragged the gun carriage bearing Elizabeth’s coffin to Westminster Abbey, followed by King Charles III and his sons, Princes William and Harry, as bagpipers played. Around 2,000 mourners, including international leaders and medical professionals, gathered in the monastery to pay their respects to her as pallbearers carried the casket inside. A bell rang 96 times before the service, one for each minute of her life.
The dean of the medieval abbey, David Hoyle, welcomed the mourners and said, “Here, where Queen Elizabeth was married and crowned, we gather from across the nation, from the Commonwealth, and from the nations of the world to mourn our loss, to remember her long life of selfless service, and in sure confidence to commit her to the mercy of God our maker and redeemer.”
Two minutes of quiet were observed nationwide as it came to an end. The national anthem was then sung by the audience.
Thousands of people flocked to central London on Monday to celebrate the momentous occasion in honor of Queen Elizabeth, who passed away on September 8. City officials said that viewing places along the route of the funeral procession were full well before the service had started.
People gathered in parks and public spaces all around the United Kingdom to watch the funeral on television, which was expected to be watched by millions more. At Elizabeth’s funeral, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said that “few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen.”
The previous evening, Charles sent out a letter of gratitude to citizens of the U.K. and the rest of the world, saying he and Camilla, the queen consort, had been “touched beyond measure” by the sheer number of people who had come out to honor the monarch.
Following the funeral, the casket was carried through the streets of the nation’s capital by military troops wearing dress uniforms and her family.
It will be loaded into a hearse at Wellington Arch, next to Hyde Park, and driven to Windsor Castle, where Elizabeth spent a lot of her time, for another procession prior to a committal service in St. George’s Chapel. At a private family service, she will be laid to rest alongside her late husband, Prince Philip.
As tens of thousands of police, hundreds of British soldiers, and an army of officials made final preparations for the funeral on Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden was among the world leaders who paid their respects at the queen’s casket.
As he signed the condolence book, Biden described Queen Elizabeth II as “decent,” “honorable,” and “all about service,” adding that his heart goes out to the royal family.
At 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, people in Britain observed a minute of silence in honor of the one and only queen most of them had ever known. The steady stream of mourners inside Westminster Hall stopped for 60 seconds as they observed the minute of meditation in complete silence.
The throng in Windsor became silent for a moment of thought as the rain started to pour. For the greatest viewing places of the queen’s coffin, some stayed overnight outside the castle.
As the mourners prepared to stand in line for hours to view the procession bearing the queen’s body, Jilly Fitzgerald, who was in Windsor, said there was a sense of solidarity among them.
“It’s nice to be with everyone who is experiencing the same thing. Everyone feels like the queen was a member of their family, so it’s like a large family, she said.
