The royal family grieved in public as the nation bid farewell to its Queen and watched as the late monarch left the capital for the last time.
King Charles III was left close to tears during a state funeral service at Westminster Abbey, where the Archbishop of Canterbury described the Queen as having touched “a multitude of lives” and having been a “joyful” figure for many.
The Queen was head of state but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and in a personal touch, the wreath adorning her coffin had a handwritten note from the King.
The message said: “In loving and devoted memory.”
Tens of thousands of mourners lined the ceremonial procession route from the Abbey to Wellington Arch, where the Queen’s coffin left for her Berkshire home of Windsor Castle and a committal service.
The Queen’s coffin was lifted from the state hearse and carried into St George’s Chapel ahead of the committal service.
The procession was led into the chapel by members of the Queen’s royal household.
Once again the King followed behind the coffin, accompanied by the Queen Consort, with the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence behind, then the Duke of York and the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
The bearer party was once again the same members of the Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.
The procession entered the chapel and the coffin was taken along the centre aisle of the nave to the catafalque in the Quire.
The service began with the choir singing Psalm 121, set to music by Sir Henry Walford Davies, who previously served as an organist of the chapel.
Over a number of years, the Queen was involved in discussions about the order of service for her funeral, to approve the choice of prayers, hymns and other accompanying music.
Following the psalm, which includes the line “the Lord shall preserve thee from all evil”, the choristers move on to sing ‘The Russian Contakion of the Departed’, which was also performed at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in April last year.
Giving the Bidding, the Dean of Windsor, the Rev David Conner, said: “We have come together to commit into the hands of God the soul of his servant Queen Elizabeth.
“Here, in St George’s Chapel, where she so often worshipped, we are bound to call to mind someone whose uncomplicated yet profound Christian Faith bore so much fruit. Fruit, in a life of unstinting service to the Nation, the Commonwealth and the wider world, but also (and especially to be remembered in this place) in kindness, concern and reassuring care for her family and friends and neighbours.”
Referring to a “rapidly changing and frequently troubled world”, the Dean praised the late Queen’s “calm and dignified presence”.
He said the monarch’s disposition “has given us confidence to face the future, as she did, with courage and with hope”.
Concluding the Bidding, he said: “As, with grateful hearts, we reflect on these and all the many other ways in which her long life has been a blessing to us, we pray that God will give us grace to honour her memory by following her example, and that, with our sister Elizabeth, at the last, we shall know the joys of life eternal.”
Giving the Bidding, the Dean of Windsor, the Rev David Conner, said: “We have come together to commit into the hands of God the soul of his servant Queen Elizabeth.
“Here, in St George’s Chapel, where she so often worshipped, we are bound to call to mind someone whose uncomplicated yet profound Christian Faith bore so much fruit. Fruit, in a life of unstinting service to the Nation, the Commonwealth and the wider world, but also (and especially to be remembered in this place) in kindness, concern and reassuring care for her family and friends and neighbours.”
Referring to a “rapidly changing and frequently troubled world”, the Dean praised the late Queen’s “calm and dignified presence”.
He said the monarch’s disposition “has given us confidence to face the future, as she did, with courage and with hope”.
The Queen’s coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault of St George’s Chapel.As the coffin was lowered, the Dean of Windsor recited Psalm 103, which includes the traditional line: “Go forth upon thy journey from this world, O Christian soul”.He also offered the commendation – a prayer in which the deceased is entrusted to God’s mercy.The Garter King of Arms then pronounced the styles and titles of the Queen.The service ended with the Sovereign Piper playing the lament A Salute to the Royal Fendersmith from the doorway between the chapel and the dean’s cloister, with the music gradually fading away as he walked towards the deanery.The Archbishop of Canterbury then concluded the service with a blessing before the congregation sang the national anthem.The Prince of Wales remained solemn throughout the service at the chapel.William also followed the footsteps of his father and sat in the same seat the King had sat in for the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh during the Covid-19 pandemic.Members of the Royal Family gradually left St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle following the committal service for the Queen.The Prince and Princess of Wales left the chapel by car with their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex departed separately shortly after.The queen's coffin was borne to Windsor on a gun carriage in a spectacle not seen for many generations, as hundreds of soldiers, sailors and airmen marched to solemn funeral pieces or lined the route.
In a moving gesture, staff from Buckingham Palace stood outside the gates of the royal residence and watched as the late monarch was taken past.
The Queen’s coffin was flanked by people she had known well, her equerries, drawn from the military to organiser her diary, and soldiers from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards – soldiers she personally commanded.
Behind her coffin were Charles and his siblings – the Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex – who were followed by the monarch’s three grandsons, Peter Phillips, Duke of Sussex and Prince of Wales.
The royal women travelled behind in state limousines with the Princess of Wales and her children George and Charlotte with the Queen Consort and the Duchess of Sussex travelling with the Countess of Wessex.
In the shadow of Apsley House, the former home of the Duke of Wellington, the sailors who had drawn the carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin came to a halt, and then the bearer party from the Queen’s Company carried it to the waiting state hearse which bean the journey to Windsor.
Around 2,000 people attended the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey, including members of royal families from across Europe, politicians from all sides of the political spectrum and world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.
George and Charlotte joined the procession behind the coffin when it was carried through the Abbey and the Kate was seen putting a comforting hand on her son’s knee towards the end of service.
The state funeral clearly had an effect on royal family with the Countess of Wessex dabbing her eyes and the Queen’s granddaughter Princess Beatrice seen crying.
Justin Welby told mourners: “People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
“But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten.
“The grief of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family but all round the nation, Commonwealth and world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us.
“She was joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.”
Mr Welby, standing in the church where kings and queens have been crowned since 1066, also said that the Queen had declared on her 21st birthday “that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth”.
He added: “Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen.”
Among the hymns sung at the service was The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want, also sung at the Queen’s wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in the Abbey in 1947.
The other hymns were The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended; and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.
As the Abbey fell silent, the Queen’s Piper, Warrant Officer Class 1 (Pipe Major) Paul Burns, played the traditional lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep. Also played were The Last Post, Reveille and the national anthem.
The Queen’s coffin was draped in the Royal Standard, with the wreath of flowers requested by the King.
Cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House, the flowers and foliage were chosen for their symbolism.
They include rosemary, for remembrance, and myrtle cut from a plant which was grown from a sprig of myrtle in the Queen’s wedding bouquet. Myrtle is an ancient symbol of a happy marriage.
The funeral was broadcast live at around 125 cinemas and several cathedrals in the UK, and on a big screen in Holyrood Park in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.
The emotion of the occasion showed on the faces of the King and Queen Consort as they followed the Queen’s coffin from Westminster Abbey.
The Duke of York was seen to bow his head.
The Queen’s coffin, followed by the King, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, Duke of York and the Princess Royal, began its procession towards Wellington Arch after it was placed back onto the State Gun Carriage.
The King, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex appeared solemn as they walked behind.
Princess Charlotte looked out at the crowds of people lining the street as she rode past in a car with the Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales and her brother Prince George.
The Duchess of Sussex and the Countess of Wessex both appeared sombre in a vehicle directly behind.
Following them, Princess Eugenie and and Princess Beatrice waved and smiled at mourners from a third car.
Every head in the crowd turned as one, as the Queen’s coffin was carried through Whitehall and the historic surroundings, past the Cabinet War Rooms, past the Cenotaph and past Downing Street.
A sea of smartphones greeted the funeral procession as it arrived in Whitehall, with the crowd descending into silence as the coffin came past.
Earlier, there was complete silence from the crowd close to Parliament Square, as the State Gun Carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin slowly moved past.
The wreath which adorns the Queen’s coffin includes flowers requested by King Charles.
Cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House, the flowers and foliage have been chosen for their symbolism.
They include rosemary, for remembrance, and myrtle cut from a plant which was grown from a sprig of myrtle in the Queen’s wedding bouquet. Myrtle is an ancient symbol of a happy marriage.
Also included are English oak to symbolise the strength of love, pelargoniums, garden roses, autumnal hydrangea, sedum, dahlias and scabious.
These are in shades of gold, pink and deep burgundy, with touches of white, to reflect the Royal Standard.
Several people on social media noted the appearance of a spider on the Queen’s coffin as the ceremony took place.
The creature was seen crawling across a piece of card placed on the coffin alongside the crown and a floral display.
The crowd, momentarily still and with phones held aloft to capture the moment, was around 10-people thick in places, as tens of thousands thronged the streets to say goodbye to the monarch.
The King and other royals, including the Princess Royal, the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Wessex were all wearing military uniform.
The Duke of York and the Duke of Sussex, who are no longer working royals, wore suits as they marched behind the carriage.
The day marks the climax of what is being regarded as the biggest security operation the UK has ever seen, surpassing the operation for the Platinum Jubilee weekend and the London 2012 Olympics, which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day.
Louis Bollard came dressed in a union flag to watch the Queen’s funeral on the big screens in Hyde Park and watch her coffin go past on its final journey to Windsor.
Mr Bollard, 29, who travelled to London from Bath, said: “The funeral was very powerful. Seeing it was quite enchanting and mesmerising to see. It was a really, really nice, fitting tribute.”
He watched the Queen’s coffin go past him and said: “I just wanted to see her and say my last goodbye, more to pay my respects more than anything.
“When you see it on TV it’s one thing, but when you see the coffin yourself, it’s completely different.
“I also helped out in the queue last night, giving out refreshments for people, but I didn’t get to see her myself, which is why I wanted to come here and do it now.”
Before the service, conducted by the Very Rev David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, the tenor bell was tolled every minute for 96 minutes, reflecting the years of the Queen’s life.
Presidents and prime ministers from across the globe filled the Abbey, with US President Joe Biden among the mourners alongside France’s President Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, her counterpart from Canada Justin Trudeau, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
But invitations were not sent to Russia and Belarus due to the invasion of Ukraine, while Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Myanmar’s military junta and Syria’s Bashar Assad were also excluded.
During the service the King and the Queen Consort were sitting in the ornate Canada Club chairs, with Camilla next to the Princess Royal, then Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, then the Duke of York and then the Earl and Countess of Wessex in the front row of the south lantern.
Across the aisle were the Prince of Wales, the Princess of Wales, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and then Peter Phillips and Zara and Mike Tindall.
Directly behind the King were the Duke of Sussex with the Duchess of Sussex behind Camilla. Meghan will be sitting next to Princess Beatrice.
US President Joe Biden was 14 rows back on the south transept behind the Polish leader and in front of the Czech Republic. The First Lady was next to Switzerland’s representative.
Other heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron were also in the abbey, while senior British politicians including Prime Minister Liz Truss, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and former prime ministers Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Theresa May are also among those in seats.
The funeral was broadcast live at around 125 cinemas and several cathedrals in the UK, and on a big screen in Holyrood Park in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.
Alexandra Cussons, 28, said the crowd in central London watching the procession had been full of mother and daughter pairs, which illustrated the Queen’s importance as a matriarch.
Ms Cussons along with her mother Sheila Martin, both from London, befriended another pair, Clare Ronai and Lister Bolton, in the crowd.
She said she had been brought to tears when the service commenced and was comforted by Ms Ronai, also from London.
“(The Queen) was in a sense an icon for women and mothers,” Ms Cussons said.
Ms Ronai, an account manager, said: “Everything went really quiet when the service started and then when the hymn started you could not only hear the audio from the abbey, but a murmur through the crowd who were singing along, which was incredibly emotional, and I think started the tears for me.
“People were hugging all around us and crying.”
The Queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel, an annex to the main chapel where her mother and father were buried, along with the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret.
Philip’s coffin will move from the royal vault to the memorial chapel to join the Queen’s.
