The essential
- The population can see the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II until Monday morning, 7:30 a.m., but the line was interrupted on Sunday to take into account the waiting time.
- The dignitaries arrived, including Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Olena Zelenska, the first lady of Ukraine. Some were received by King Charles on Sunday evening.
- On Sunday evening, the country followed a minute’s silence in honor of the Queen.
■ The last visitors pay homage to the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II
■ A very codified procession
The procession that will take Queen Elizabeth’s coffin to Westminster Abbey for her state funeral, then to Windsor for her burial, is in line with the tradition of the British monarchy.
Sailors from the Royal Navy will pull with ropes the hitch mounted on a gun carriage carrying the coffin of the deceased, while others, 142 in total, will follow to act as a brake on the hitch. Eight soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Queen’s Company Grenadiers Guards will have the daunting task of carrying the Queen’s coffin from Westminster Hall to the gun carriage and then into Westminster Abbey a once the procession is over.
If the members of the royal family, led by the new king Charles III, will follow the coffin, the team will be preceded in particular by members of the royal house of Queen Elisabeth II, such as the director of the Royal Collection, the “Comptroller from the office of the Lord Chamberlain, one of the departments of the royal household, or even the private secretary of the queen.
In front of them, will advance the orchestras of bagpipes and drums of Scottish and Irish regiments, a brigade of Gurkhas, soldiers of Nepalese origin but members of the British army, or 200 musicians of the Royal Air Force.
6,000 soldiers, sailors or pilots of the British army will take part in the procession or will be deployed throughout the passage of the procession, said Sunday on the BBC Admiral Tony Radakin, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces. Several times on the route of the coffin, they will perform a royal salute, for example when passing in front of the Queen Victoria Memorial.
■ The detailed funeral program
7h30: the coffin display ends at Westminster Hall, which closes to the public, for its transfer to nearby Westminster Abbey.
10h: opening of the doors to Westminster Abbey.
10h35: the coffin is carried from the catafalque, the imposing platform where it rested, to the gun carriage which will wait outside the north door of Westminster Hall.
11h44: the Royal Navy gun carriage sets out for a short procession to Westminster Abbey, hauled by 142 sailors.
11:52 a.m.: the coffin arrives at the West Door of Westminster Abbey, followed on foot by the Queen’s eldest son and heir apparent, King Charles III and the other members of the Royal Family. The coffin is carried from the gun carriage inside the building.
12h: the state funeral begins, conducted by the Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The sermon will be delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the Anglican Church of which the British sovereign is the formal head.
12:55 p.m. (approximately): the bugle sounds, followed by two minutes of silence across the UK.
1 p.m. (approximately): the ceremony ends with the national anthem and a musical lamentation.
13h15: the coffin is pulled from the gun carriage towards Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, near Buckingham Palace, followed by the Royal Family and a procession, to the sound of Big Ben and cannon shots.
14h (environ): the coffin arrives at Wellington Arch, then placed in the royal hearse to take the direction of Windsor.
16h10: the hearse arrives at Windsor and enters “the Long Walk”, an impressive rectilinear path of more than 4 kilometers which leads to Windsor Castle.
16h40 (environ): The King and senior members of the Royal Family join the procession on foot from the Quadrangle, Windsor Castle’s Great Court, before the procession stops at the Chapel at 3:53 p.m.
17h: the funeral ceremony begins at the chapel of Saint-Georges in the presence of members of the royal family and the 15 Prime Ministers of the kingdoms who exercised with the British sovereign as head of state. About 45 minutes later, the coffin descends into the royal crypt.
20h30: A private burial ceremony is held at the King George VI Memorial at St. George’s Chapel. The Queen rests alongside her husband Prince Philip.