Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest reigning monarch, has been buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George’s chapel, Windsor Castle, in a small private ceremony attended by family on Monday, September 19th.
Britain, joined by people from around the world said farewell to Queen Elizabeth II at a historic state funeral attended by world leaders, before a ceremonial journey past hundreds of thousands of mourners to her final place of rest.
Earlier on Monday 2,000 guests including heads of state gathered in Westminster Abbey for her funeral. The coffin was then taken to Wellington Arch in a procession featuring members of the armed forces and their bands.
The Queen’s children, including King Charles III followed behind the coffin on its journey after it left the abbey. His sons, Prince William and Prince Harry joined them. The Queen’s coffin was later driven to Windsor Castle.
To the tune of pipes and drums, the gun carriage — used at every state funeral since Queen Victoria’s in 1901 — was then drawn by 142 junior enlisted sailors in the Royal Navy to Westminster Abbey.
The thousand-year-old church’s tenor bell tolled 96 times at one-minute intervals — one for every year of her life — and stopped a minute before the service began at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).
In his funeral sermon, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby praised the queen’s life of duty and service to the UK and the Commonwealth.
“People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer,” he told the 2,000 guests, who included US President Joe Biden and Japan’s Emperor Naruhito.
A service of committal was held at St George’s chapel, where the Queen’s coffin was lowered in to the royal vault and her instruments of rule were placed on the altar.
Additionally, the coffin of Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip—who died in April 2021 at the age of 99—was moved from its place in the Royal Vault at Windsor Castle and has now been reunited with his wife’s casket in the King George VI memorial chapel, with the two now buried together.
After the death of her father in 1952, Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne at the age of 25. In 2015, she made history, surpassing the previous longest-reigning British monarch, her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. Queen Elizabeth would also go on to become the longest-serving female head of state in world history.
In addition to carrying out her civil and philanthropic duties, the Queen welcomed four children with Prince Philip: King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.
The Queen also had eight grandchildren, including Prince William, Prince Harry, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, Peter Phillips, Zara Tindall, Lady Louise Windsor and James, Vicount Severn and 12 great-grandchildren.
Following the Queen’s passing, her son King Charles reflected on his mother’s legacy moments after news broke of her death. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother,” he wrote in a statement shared by Buckingham Palace on Sept. 8. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”
