Newsman: Britain bid farewell to the last British queen for many generations. Queen Elizabeth II on Monday with a majestic funeral steeped in tradition that was not seen the state funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965. The ceremony send-off reflective of the broad popularity the Queen managed to retain over her remarkable seven-decade reign.
Over roughly six hours, from the start of the queen’s funeral service at London’s Westminster Abbey around 11 a.m. local time until the solemn lowering of her casket beneath the floor of St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, thousands of Britons and billions of television viewers around the globe took in scenes out of a storybook.
Royal family members and dignitaries gathered at Westminster Abbey for a somber service. Presidents, prime ministers, princes and princesses, and other public figures sat side-by-side to pay their last respects – a testament to her far-reaching appeal and deft diplomacy.
More than 200 foreign dignitaries were invited to her funeral at Westminster Abbey, including US President Joe Biden and Commonwealth leaders like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Many traded limos for buses to arrive at the funeral, just one part of a plan that amounts to the single biggest security operation that British authorities have seen since World War II.
At 96, the Queen had become an almost mythical symbol of stability amid constant change. Her 70-year rule was bookended by war and pandemic, punctuated by uncertainty about Britain’s role on the world stage. She was crowned as the sun had started to set on the British Empire.
On June 2, 1953, the Archbishop of Canterbury turned to a 26-year-old Elizabeth, newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II, and in a nod to her Church of England faith that would sustain her throughout her life, said, “May she be filled with thine abundant grace and princely virtues.”
The queen’s coffin was driven up the long sloped driveway to the entrance of her beloved Windsor Castle, a place she most considered home.
As the hearse made its way to the entrance, a riderless black pony stood almost at attention, next to a handler with bowed head. This was the queen’s Fell pony Emma, one of many horses she doted on during a lifetime of devotion to those regal animals.
And then up the road stood two dogs, both looking calm if perhaps a bit lost. Sandy and Muick, the queen’s corgis, just two of the dozens she had owned.
The queen was, once again, home, if now only in spirit.
As the committal service replete with sung hymns and liturgical readings wound down, there came a moment of marked transition. Crown jeweler Mark Appleby approached the coffin and carefully removed the scepter, orb and crown, which will be used in Charles’ coronation sometime next year.
Then, almost imperceptibly, the coffin lowered into the floor of the church. A bagpiper began to play. The last British queen for likely many generations to come went to her eternal rest, alongside her mother, father and sister.
The funeral, which served as both a state and religious service and marked the culmination of 10 days of mourning, honored the Queen with the sort of pageantry that she used to promote the royal family and “brand Britain” throughout her life.
Tens of thousands of people flocked to streets around Westminster Abbey and along the 25-mile procession route from central London to Windsor, hoping to catch a glimpse of the sovereign’s flag-draped coffin as it traveled by hearse to her final resting place.
Later in the evening, she was interred together with her husband of 73 years, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. An annex of St. George’s Chapel, it also houses the remains of the Queen’s father, her mother the Queen Mother, and her sister Princess Margaret.
