Inside step by step plan for Queen’s funeral including final resting place where she’ll be reunited with ‘rock’ Philip
THE Queen will today be reunited with her beloved Philip, the monarch’s “rock and stay” for more than seven decades.
At a private service inside Windsor Castle, Her Majesty will be buried with the Duke of Edinburgh, who died 18 months ago, aged 99.
Princess Elizabeth was 13 when she fell for Philip and they were devoted to each other through 73 years of marriage.
To mark their diamond wedding anniversary in 2007 the couple posed for the photo above, a recreation of a picture taken on their 1947 honeymoon at the Broadlands estate in Hampshire.
More than two million people will be in London to witness the Queen’s historic State Funeral at Westminster Abbey.
More than four billion will watch on TV worldwide and observe a two-minute silence at 11.55am. Later, thousands more will line 25 miles of roads from London’s Hyde Park Corner to Windsor Castle as the Queen takes her final journey.
READ MORE ON THE QUEEN'S DEATH
This afternoon 800 mourners, many of whom worked for Her Majesty, will be at a service of committal in St George’s Chapel, where Philip was laid to rest last April.
And at 7.30pm the final chapter in the incredible love story at the heart of the longest reign in British history will come to an end.
06:30: Westminster Hall, where the Queen has lain in state since Wednesday, closes to the public. The last of the estimated 400,000 mourners files past.
08:30: At Westminster Abbey, the first of those invited to the funeral service arrive. The 2,000 congregation includes world leaders, foreign royals, Victoria Cross and gallantry medal holders. Politicians, military top brass, people from the Queen’s favourite charities and NHS workers have been invited.
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10:37: Eight soldiers from Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, lift the Queen’s coffin from the catafalque in Westminster Hall, where it has lain for 114 hours, and carry their Colonel-in-Chief to the State Gun Carriage, waiting at the North Door.
10:44: Led by 200 pipers and bandsmen playing solemn music, followed by Pursuivants, Heralds and Kings of Arms, the procession of 1,650 service men and women sets off.
The gun carriage – pulled by 98 Royal Naval ratings, with 40 more behind – is flanked by Yeomen of the Guard, Gentlemen at Arms and the Royal Company of Archers.
Royal Marines and sailors line the route to Westminster Abbey, via Parliament Square, Broad Sanctuary and the Sanctuary.
At various points in its journey to the catafalque at Westminster Abbey, King Charles and Camilla, Princess Anne and Tim Laurence, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Sophie, Prince William, Catherine and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, Prince Harry and Meghan, the Earl of Snowdon, Peter Phillips, the Duke of Gloucester, Prince Michael of Kent and the Duke of Kent walk behind the coffin, followed by royal household staff.
On Parliament Square, 53 men and two officers from each of the Royal Navy, Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards and The King’s Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force, their Colours draped, mount a guard of honour, accompanied by a Band of the Royal Marines.
10:52: Procession arrives at the West Gate of Westminster Abbey. Eight pall bearers, all Equerries who served the Queen during her reign, lift Her Majesty’s coffin from the gun carriage.
They carry Her Majesty on their shoulders into the Abbey, where the other members of the Royal Family are already seated in the South Lantern. Also in prominent positions are heads of state, overseas PMs and government representatives, foreign royals, plus governor generals, bussed in from the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
Two-minute silence
The coffin, still draped in the Royal Standard with the instruments of monarchy, the Imperial State Crown, Sceptre and Orb on top, is laid on the catafalque in front of the High Altar.
11:00: Across Parliament Square, in the Elizabeth Tower, the muffled Big Ben bell strikes 11 o’clock, marking the start of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Dean of Westminster, Dr David Hoyle, leads the service, which the Queen had helped to plan. The Archbishop of York, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and Moderators of the Church of Scotland and the Free Churches say prayers.
Prime Minister Liz Truss and Secretary General of the Commonwealth Baroness Scotland read the lessons, while Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby gives the sermon and the Commendation.
11:55: Last Post sounds, followed by a national two-minute silence.
12:00: Four State Trumpeters sound Reveille followed by God Save The King. Pipe Major Paul Burns, the Queen’s piper, plays a lament as the funeral service ends.
The bearer party lifts the coffin from the catafalque and moves in procession through the Great West Door to the State Gun Carriage outside the West Gate.
King Charles and the Queen Consort, the Prince and Princess of Wales, Harry and Meghan plus other royals follow the coffin through the abbey.
12:15: Mounties from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, followed by the George Cross foundations from Malta, the Royal Ulster Constabulary and NHS staff, lead the funeral procession, at 75 paces a minute, from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch.
Armed Forces who had a special relationship with the Queen, including the mounted Household Cavalry, come next. A Sovereign’s Standard of the Household Cavalry follows the coffin.
The King, his brothers and sister, Princes William and Harry and other royals walk behind. The Queen Consort with the Princess of Wales, Duchess of Sussex and Countess of Wessex follow by car.
The procession of seven groups, each with a military band, goes via Parliament Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, The Mall, past Buckingham Palace and Constitution Hill to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner.
While 1,000 armed forces from the UK and Commonwealth line the mile-long route, British Legion standard bearers flank the Cenotaph, King’s Life Guards turn out on Horse Guards Parade and King’s Guard salute the coffin at Victoria Memorial near Buckingham Palace.
The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fire minute guns in Hyde Park and Big Ben tolls during the procession.
13:00: The procession arrives at Wellington Arch, where the bearer party lifts the Queen’s coffin from the State Gun Carriage into the glass-backed State Hearse, which Her Majesty helped design.
Bands of the Scots and Grenadier Guards play a medley of the Queen’s favourites, including Jerusalem and I Vow To Thee My Country as the coffin arrives.
As the hearse leaves the monument for Windsor, the parade gives a Royal Salute and plays the National Anthem. King Charles III, the Queen Consort, the Prince and Princess of Wales, along with other Royal Family members, leave for Windsor by car, travelling along the M4.
The Queen's funeral in numbers
4,500: military in the funeral parade
98: Royal Navy ratings will pull the State Gun Carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin
200: musicians in the procession
2,868: diamonds in the Imperial State Crown on top of the coffin
500: heads of state invited
10,000: police on duty
2,200: people expected to attend the funeral
20million: will watch on TV in the UK
4.1billion: will watch worldwide
400,000: people estimated to have seen Her Majesty lying in state
500: miles travelled by the Queen’s coffin since she left Balmoral
1896: Year the State Gun Carriage was made. It was first used for Queen Victoria’s funeral in 1901
13:15: Thousands of mourners line the A4, A30 and A308 to see the State Hearse as it travels 25 miles through London and Berkshire to Windsor.
15:06: The State Hearse arrives at Windsor Great Park through Shaw Farm Gate on Albert Road and on to Long Walk, where tens of thousands of people bid a final farewell to the Queen.
15:10: At the head of the procession, the hearse travels up Long Walk, through Cambridge Gate and George IV Gate to the Quadrangle.
15:20: Inside St George’s Chapel the congregation of 800, including the Queen’s Household and Windsor staff, are in place. Governors General and Prime Ministers of the Realms arrive.
15:25: Royals who are not in the procession arrive at the chapel and are escorted to their seats.
15:40: The Sebastopol Bell and the Curfew Tower Bell toll as the King and senior royals join the procession in the Quadrangle to walk behind the coffin to St George’s Chapel.
The Queen Consort, Princess of Wales, Meghan and Sophie Wessex follow by car. The route is lined by Armed Forces. Minute guns are fired by the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, from the East Lawn.
15:53: Led by dismounted Household Cavalry and a division of the Sovereign’s Escort on horseback, the procession halts at the foot of the West Steps of St George’s Chapel. The bearer party lift the Queen’s coffin from the hearse and, as at Prince Philip’s funeral in 2021, Her Majesty is carried up the West Steps.
16:00: As the coffin, still draped in the Royal Standard, enters the chapel, the Dean of Windsor, David Conner, begins the service of committal.
The Rector of Sandringham, the Minister of Crathie Kirk in Scotland and the Chaplain of Windsor Great Park say prayers.
Before the final hymn, the Imperial State Crown, the Orb and the Sceptre are removed from the coffin by the Crown Jeweller with the help of the Bargemaster and Serjeants-at-Arms. The dean places them on the altar.
As the last hymn ends, the King puts the Queen’s Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on her coffin.
The Lord Chamberlain, Lord Parker of Minsmere, breaks his Wand of Office and places it on the coffin, which is lowered into the royal vault.
The Garter King of Arms pronounces the styles and titles of the Queen.
The Queen’s Piper plays a lament and walks slowly towards the Deanery, so the music inside the chapel fades away.
The Archbishop of Canterbury gives the blessing, followed by the singing of God Save The King. The King and Royal Family members leave through the Galilee Porch for Windsor Castle.
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19:30: The King and members of the Royal Family hold a private burial service at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, conducted by the Dean of Windsor.
The Queen will be buried alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, whose funeral was held at Windsor less than 18 months ago.
Where to watch
BBC One, ITV, Sky and TalkTV are covering the day’s events live:
- BBC One 8am-5pm: Huw Edwards, Fergal Keane, Kirsty Young, Sophie Raworth and David Dimbleby lead a team of 29 presenters
- ITV 6am-midnight: Tom Bradby, Julie Etchingham and Mary Nightingale
- Sky from 7am: Kay Burley, Anna Botting, Dermot Murnaghan and Sophy Ridge