THE Queen’s state funeral will “unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths” and pay a “fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign”, the man in charge of the historic occasion has said.
The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, described the task as “both humbling and daunting. An honour and a great responsibility”.
Two thousand people, including world leaders and foreign royals, will gather inside Westminster Abbey in London on Monday for the final farewell to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
Some 800 people, including members of the Queen’s household and Windsor estate staff, will attend the committal service afterwards at 4pm in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Further details of the ceremony and the next five days were released by Buckingham Palace.
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The Queen will be interred with the Duke of Edinburgh in King George VI’s Memorial Chapel in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in a private service at 7.30pm on Monday.
But the burial service conducted by the Dean of Windsor and attended by the King and royals will remain entirely private, as a “deeply personal family occasion”.
The King, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex will mount a 15-minute vigil around the Queen’s coffin as it lies in state at 7.30pm on Friday.
After the funeral, the King and members of the royal family will walk behind the Queen’s coffin to Wellington Arch when it leaves Westminster Abbey, before it is driven to Windsor on the state hearse.
It will move from central London to Windsor, on a route that has not been disclosed by the Palace, but the hearse will travel down the Long Walk to the castle.
In the quadrangle, the coffin will be joined by the King and members of the royal family, who will follow behind on foot as it approaches the gothic chapel.
The Earl Marshal said: “The events of recent days are a reminder of the strength of our constitution, a system of government which, in so many ways, is the envy of the world.
“The Queen held a unique and timeless position in all our lives. This has been felt more keenly over the past few days as the world comes to terms with her demise.
“It is our aim and belief that the state funeral and events of the next few days will unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths, whilst fulfilling Her Majesty and her family’s wishes to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign.”
Elements of the funeral will include the sounding of The Last Post at 11.55am as the service nears its end, followed by a two-minute national silence which will be observed by the abbey congregation and people across the UK.
The Reveille and then the national anthem will then take place, and finally, a lament played by the Queen’s Piper will bring the service to a close at noon.
On Monday morning, the doors of Westminster Abbey will open at 8am as the congregation begins to take its seats, three hours before the service starts at 11am.
Heads of state and overseas government representatives will gather at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and “travel under collective arrangements” to the abbey, a senior Palace official said.
Recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross, Government, Parliament, devolved parliaments and assemblies, the Church, and Her Majesty’s Patronages will be among those in attendance, with further representatives from law, emergency services, public servants and professions and public representatives.
The King will once again lead his family in marching behind the Queen’s coffin when it is moved, at 10.44am on Monday, from Westminster Hall, where it has been lying in state, to Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s funeral service.
He will walk with Anne, Andrew and Edward, and behind the quartet will be the Queen’s grandsons Peter Phillips, the Duke of Sussex and the Prince of Wales.
The Queen’s coffin will be carried during the procession on a 123-year-old gun carriage, pulled by 98 Royal Navy sailors using ropes in a tradition dating back to the funeral of Queen Victoria.
The procession will be led by the pipes and drums of the Scottish and Irish regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Royal Air Force.
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