authored by Phil HAZLEWOOD
Queen Elizabeth II is put to rest on Monday, following a state funeral attended by world leaders and a historic final procession through the crowded streets of London.
On September 8, following a year of worsening health, the longest-reigning monarch in British history passed away at Balmoral, her Scottish Highland retreat, at the age of 96.
The last state funeral given in Britain was for Winston Churchill, the country’s wartime prime leader, in 1965.
The cranes that formerly unloaded the wealth of Britain’s immense empire, which Elizabeth inherited, were lowered in respect as his coffin was barged up the River Thames.
In the six decades thereafter, Britain’s worldwide influence and place in the modern world have fallen significantly.
However, the country will continue to draw upon centuries of history to honor the only king that the majority of Britons have ever known.
People from all walks of life camped out for days to observe the lavish pomp and pay their respects.
Following the funeral, the queen’s flag-draped coffin, crowned with the imperial state crown, will be transported west to Windsor Castle.
She will be buried with her father, King George VI, her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and her sister, Princess Margaret, reuniting in death the “us four” family.
The coffin of her husband, Prince Philip, who passed away last year at the age of 99, will also be moved to lie beside her.
Dignitaries
Elizabeth’s funeral at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, in April of last year could not be more dissimilar to Philip’s.
Coronavirus limitations restricted the number of mourners to 30, led by the queen, a lone figure dressed in black and wearing a matching facemask.
On Monday, more than 2,000 guests, including leaders of state ranging from US Vice President Joe Biden to Japan’s secretive Emperor Naruhito, will fill Westminster Abbey, the imposing site of royal coronations, weddings, and burials for more than a millennium.
King Charles III, the eldest son of the queen and her successor, will lead mourners alongside his three brothers and his heir, Prince William.
Charles stated late on Sunday that he and his wife, the Queen Consort Camilla, were “very moved” by the condolences and words of support.
“As we all prepare to bid farewell for the last time, I simply wanted to say thank you,” he continued.
Two of the royal family’s most problematic members — the queen’s second son, Prince Andrew, and Charles’s younger son, Prince Harry — have returned to the fold temporarily following the queen’s death.
Liz Truss, whom the queen selected as the 15th British prime minister of her reign just two days before her death, will also be seated in the abbey benches.
All of Truss’s surviving predecessors, as well as her counterparts and representatives from the 14 Commonwealth nations outside the United Kingdom where Charles is also head of state, will also be there.
Whether they stay constitutional monarchies or become republics will certainly define Charles’ rule.
‘Last duty’
The queen’s state has provoked profound thought on the Britain she ruled over, its past, present, and potential future, as well as the virtues of lifetime service and duty she came to symbolise over her 70-year reign.
Andy Sanderson, 46, a shop manager who was among the final members of the public to pay their respects as her coffin lay in state, told AFP, “She was the glue that held the country together.”
Approximately 6,000 military soldiers will participate in the solemn parade to and from the abbey, en route to Windsor for the committal service at St. George’s Chapel.
Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin, Britain’s highest-ranking military officer, referred to it as “our last job for Her Majesty the Queen,” their late commander-in-chief, and the first for Charles.
The abbey liturgy begins at 11 a.m., with the largest police security operation in London in place (1000 GMT).
A bugler will play The Last Post after just under an hour, followed by two minutes of silence and the reworded national song, “God Save the King.”
John Sentamu, the former archbishop of York, stated that the queen, who presided over the Protestant Church of England founded by King Henry VIII in the 16th century, did not want a “boring” farewell.
“As you hear the service, you will be elevated to grandeur,” he told BBC television on Sunday.
Big Ben tolls
It is reported that hundreds of thousands of people have waited up to 25 hours and overnight to view the queen’s coffin since it was placed in state on Wednesday.
Before the coffin was carried to the state gun carriage and pulled by members of the Royal Navy to the abbey, the doors of the cavernous Westminster Hall of the British parliament closed just after 6:30 am.
Charles and other senior royals will again proceed in procession past subdued spectators to a waiting hearse for the last journey to Windsor following the service.
Big Ben, the enormous bell atop Elizabeth Tower at one end of the Houses of Parliament, will toll continuously, and guns will fire every minute.
Indicative of the continued fascination with the woman often referred to as “the last global monarch,” a massive television audience is expected to watch the burial abroad and live online.
But E.J. Kelly, 46, who traveled from Northern Ireland with two coworkers to stake out a spot on the procession route on Saturday, stated that there was no substitute for being present.
“Watching it on television is great, but being here is an entirely different experience,” the elementary school teacher told AFP.
“When the time comes, I will likely feel quite emotional, but I wanted to be here to pay my respects.”
Her crown, orb, and sceptre will be removed and put on the altar at Windsor.
The lord chamberlain, the most senior official of the royal household, symbolically breaks his “wand of office” and sets it on the coffin.
The huge oak coffin lined with lead and draped with the queen’s colors is lowered into the Royal Vault while a lone bagpiper plays a lament.
At 18:30 GMT, a private interment service will take place in the adjacent King George VI Memorial Chapel.