Millions more watched on television at home on a public holiday declared for the occasion, the first time the funeral of a British monarch has been televised.
The world bids final farewell to Queen Elizabeth
WINDSOR – Queen Elizabeth was laid to rest alongside her beloved husband on Monday after a day that saw Britain and the world pay a final farewell to the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, in a dazzling show of pomp and ceremony.
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Amid formality and careful choreography, there were moments of raw emotion. Late in the day, an ashen-faced King Charles held back tears, while grief was etched on the faces of several members of the royal family.
Huge crowds thronged the streets of London and at Windsor Castle to witness the moving, grand processions and ceremonies.
“Few leaders receive the outpouring of love that we have seen,” Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told the congregation at the state funeral in the majestic Westminster Abbey, where monarchs have been married, buried, and crowned over the last 1,000 years.
Among the 2,000 congregations were some 500 presidents, prime ministers, foreign royal family members, and dignitaries, including Joe Biden of the United States.
Outside hundreds of thousands had crammed into the capital to honour Elizabeth, whose death at the age of 96 has prompted an outpouring of gratitude for her 70 years on the throne.
Many more lined the route as the hearse took her coffin from London to Windsor, throwing flowers, cheering, and clapping as it passed from the city to the English countryside that she loved so much.
At St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, some 800 guests attended a more intimate committal service which concluded with the crown, orb, and sceptre – symbols of the monarch’s power and governance – being removed from the coffin and placed on the altar.
As the congregation sang “God Save the King”, King Charles, who faces a huge challenge to maintain the appeal of the monarchy as economic hardship looms in Britain, appeared to be fighting back tears.
It was in the same vast building that the queen was photographed alone, mourning her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, during the pandemic lockdown, reinforcing the sense of a monarch in synch with her people during testing times.
Later on Monday evening, in private family service, the coffins of Elizabeth and Philip, who died last year aged 99, were moved from the vault to be buried together in the same chapel where her father, King George VI, mother, and sister, Princess Margaret, also rest.
“I’ve been coming to Windsor for 50 years now,” said Baldev Bhakar, 72, a jeweller from the nearby town of Slough, speaking outside Windsor Castle.
“I saw her many times over the years; it felt like she was our neighbour and she was just a lovely woman; a beautiful queen. It was good to say one last goodbye to our neighbour.”
Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle, her summer home in the Scottish highlands.
Her health had been in decline, and for months the monarch who had carried out hundreds of official engagements well into her 90s had withdrawn from public life.
However, in line with her sense of duty she was photographed just two days before she died, looking frail but smiling and holding a walking stick as she appointed Liz Truss as her 15th and final prime minister.
The 40th sovereign in a line that traces its lineage back to 1066, Elizabeth came to the throne in 1952 and became Britain’s first post-imperial monarch.
She oversaw her nation trying to carve out a new place in the world, and she was instrumental in the emergence of the Commonwealth of Nations, now a grouping comprising 56 countries.
When she succeeded her father George VI, Winston Churchill was her first prime minister and Josef Stalin led the Soviet Union. She met major figures from politics, entertainment and sport including Nelson Mandela, Pope John Paul II, the Beatles, Marilyn Monroe, Pele and Roger Federer.
Towards the end of the service, the church and much of the nation fell silent for two minutes. Trumpets rang out before the congregation sang “God Save the King”. Outside, crowds joined in and broke into applause when the anthem was over.
The queen’s piper brought the service to an end with a lament called “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep”.
At Windsor there was a similar, poignant end to the ceremony with a lone piper walking away, leaving the chapel in silence.
“I’ve sang God Save the Queen all my life,” said John Ellis, 56, an army veteran who had travelled to Windsor. “It’s going to be quite hard to change now.”