The British say today the last goodbye to Queen Elizabeth with a funeral that was planned for 20 years.
The Queen passed away at the age of 96 and after 10 days of mourning and four days of popular pilgrimage in London alone, Britain will today say a final farewell to a monarch who sealed the course of the entire country.
Seventy years after the last funeral of a monarch (the last one took place on February 15, 1952) Britain will say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth in a ceremony that she planed in detail.
According to the official program, that was made public a few hours before its start, the ceremony will take place at Westminster Abbey .
In the procession, which will be attended by 2,000 guests, from Queen Elizabeth’s family to heads of state and her great-grandchildren, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, hymns and prayers will be heard that the 96-year-old monarch had chosen with several references to her childhood as well.
A typical example is The Monet by William Henry Harris which will be performed in honor of the composer who taught Queen Elizabeth to play the piano.
Before the start of the ceremony at Westminster Abbey the bell will toll 96 times, once for each year of Queen Elizabeth’s life.
The longest day in modern British history began with the completion at 8.30 of the popular pilgrimage to Westminster Hall which began on Wednesday night, with the queue closing shortly after midnight on Sunday (18/09).
At 10 am (Greece time) the doors of Westminster Abbey are scheduled to open for the heads of state and the rest of the guests
12:35 The coffin will be taken to the exit of the British Parliament. According to the protocol it will be accompanied by 142 members of the Royal Navy
12:44 The procession will begin from the British Parliament to Westminster Abbey
12:52 The procession will arrive at Westminster Abbey
13:00 The so-called political funeral begins in the presence of 2000 guests. Among them heads of state and kings from all over the world
14:00 The ceremony in Westminster Abbey is completed. Two minutes silence will be held across the UK
14:15 A new procession to the Wellington Arch begins. (Located next to Hyde Park and behind Buckingham Palace). The procession will pass in front of the palace and make a stop
15:00 The procession arrives at the arch. The coffin is loaded into the hearse bound for Windsor (2 hour road journey. Crowds are expected to be on both sides of the road)
17:06 The hearse arrives at a designated point. A procession forms again
17:10 The procession to Windsor Castle begins
17:40 King Charles and other members of the royal family enter the procession
17:53 Procession arrives at St George’s Chapel inside Windsor Castle
19:00 The funeral procession begins. Its duration has not been specified. Once completed, the coffin will go in the royal crypt.
21:30 Burial without cameras
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King Charles, for his part, in his announcement shortly before the funeral of his mother, thanked everyone who participated in the mourning for the death of Queen Elizabeth:
“Over the last 10 days, my wife and I have been so deeply touched by the many messages of condolence and support we have received from this country and across the world,” Charles, who has toured the United Kingdom since his mother’s death, said in a statement. In London, Edinburgh, Hillsborough and Cardiff we were moved beyond measure by everyone who took the trouble to come and pay their respects to the lifelong service of my dear mother, the late queen. As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted simply to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those countless people who have been such a support and comfort to my family and myself in this time of grief”.
The British capital is expected today to welcome more than a million visitors with 10,000 police and military personnel tasked with implementing the security plan which for many is more complex and more demanding than even the one implemented in the 2012 Olympic Games.
