LQueen Elizabeth had approved every phase and every detail thirty years ago. Today, at 10.44 local time (11.44 in Italy), and after days of public exposure, her coffin will begin the last journey. The body will leave Westminster Hall in a military chariot of the Royal Navy, also used for the funeral of his father George VI, and accompanied by the music of over two hundred musicians of the royal regiments, will be transported to Westminster Abbey, the same where Elizabeth was crowned in 1953.
The last farewell to Queen Elizabeth, to the sound of Big Ben
The procession will last just eight minutes, marked by the tolling of Big Ben, and walking behind the chariot will be King Charles III, accompanied by Princess Royal Anne, Andrew of York and Prince Edward. Behind them, William, brother Harry and cousin Peter Phillips, son of Anna and eldest grandson of Elizabeth.
Two thousand exclusive guests in Westminster Abbey
The funeral rite conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Westminster will begin in the Abbey at 11 am UK time. In addition to the Royal Family there will be numerous British politicians and over 100 world leaders, alongside the representatives of the queen’s charities, who also wanted a good number of volunteers from medical and non-medical organizations involved in the fight against Covid to be present.
William and Harry in the procession that accompanied the Queen from Buckingham Palace to Westminster on September 14 (Getty Images)
Will George from Cambridge be there too?
Perhaps the presence, instead, of George of Cambridge, now second in line to the throne. At Buckingham Palace they press for his parents to allow him to be present in an extraordinary way to demonstrate unity and a continuous respect for monarchical traditions, but the little one is only nine years old and William and Kate are hesitating.
The second procession to Hyde Park
At 11.55 throughout the British territory two minutes of silence will be observed and the rite will end five minutes later, to the sound of the national anthem. The coffin will again be at the center of a procession that, after passing Buckingham Palace, will take it to Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner, also in central London, followed by King Charles and the more senior Royals.
The return to Windsor of Queen Elizabeth
At that point, a hearse will transport the queen to Windsor, in a significantly lengthened path on purpose by the organizers to allow a higher number of subjects to offer their last farewell. At 4 pm English time another funeral rite will be held in St George’s chapel, near the castle, and the queen’s body will be buried in the Royal Vaultnext to her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.
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