Queen Elizabeth II will be buried Monday at 7.30 p.m. local time, or 8.30 p.m. French time, in a private ceremony at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, on the outskirts of West London, following her state funeral in the morning, the palace said Thursday. Friday evening, also at 8:30 p.m. French time, her children, including King Charles III, will gather during a vigil in front of the coffin of the sovereign, who died on September 8 at the age of 96 in Scotland.
Funerals from noon, French time
The state funeral, the first since the death of Winston Churchill in 1965, will take place at 10 a.m. GMT, or noon French time, Monday at Westminster Abbey in the presence of more than 2,000 guests, including hundreds of foreign dignitaries. and crowned heads. Once the “Last Post”, a tribute to fallen soldiers in the British army, has sounded, two minutes of silence will be observed, around 10:55 GMT.
After the funeral, the coffin will be returned to the gun carriage and paraded through the British capital, to Wellington’s Arch at Hyde Park Corner. There it will be loaded into a hearse. Arrived in Windsor, the hearse will go to St. George’s Chapel via the Long Walk, a spectacular alley crossing the estate to the castle, before a ceremony broadcast on television.
A burial reserved for relatives
A religious service will take place at 3 p.m. GMT at the chapel, in the presence of more than 800 people, before the burial reserved for close family members, without photographers or cameras. The Queen’s coffin will rest in the King George VI Chapel, an annex to the main chapel where the Queen’s father and mother already lie, as well as the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret.
Prince Philip’s coffin, which currently rests in the royal vault, will be moved to the chapel to join his wife.
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