Londra bids farewell to her sovereign by crowding Buckingham Palace and the Westminster Hall area awaiting the final farewell to the body. Thousands have been queuing for days for the arrival, same day, of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth. According to the British tabloids hundreds and hundreds of subjects they have been crowded in the area for over 35 hours. The weather is inclement as it often happens in London. For the arrival of the body, meteorologists warn that summer will give way to winter. And, therefore, it will be truly a gesture of extreme devotion that of the British who will greet under the water the longest-lived queen in history.
The homage of the subjects to Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth: in the thousands in line
The arrival of the coffin in the capital is expected in the evening. It will be Princess Anna, on a plane of the Royal Air Force, to accompany her mother to London. The Reverend will be with you David Fergusson, dean of the Royal Chapel in Scotland. The only daughter of Queen Elizabeth will be the only one of the three brothers to accompany the coffin on the short flight to the Northolt base, west of London. The coffin will then be transported on a hearse to Buckingham Palace.
Experts say there will be over 350,000 people who will welcome the coffin at its entrance to Buckingham Palace. And almost a million subjects who will pay homage to the coffin. But the British, notoriously, are patient and are used to queuing.
The images of these hours are moving. Not just for the affection shown by subjects across the UKbut also for the extreme pain shown – without tears – by the children who had to contain the despair: Carlo and Anna have faces truly transfigured by sorrow.
Also queuing for the funeral on September 19th
Hundreds of thousands of people camped with tents and chairs along the street of the procession. The coffin will be on display for 24 hours a day, from 5 on Wednesday afternoon until 6.30 am on Monday 19 September, the date on which the funeral is held. There will be numerous heads of state, including US President Joe Biden, and dignitaries from all Commonwealth countries. Among the first to confirm the presence, the emperor of Japan, Naruhito. For Italy there should be President Mattarella.
A ceremony destined to go down in history: that of Elizabeth II it will be the first state funeral in Britain since Churchill’s farewell in 1965. It was Queen Elizabeth herself who wanted hers funeral in Westminster where the funeral of a sovereign has not been celebrated since 1760. A decision also of an emotional nature: here she was crowned in 1953. And here she married Prince Philip immediately after the war.
The court has not yet determined whether William and Harry, and their respective wives, will sit next to each other. The rapprochement between the two brothers would bode well. but ranking issues would make the situation rather complicated.
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