PRESIDENTS, KINGS AND millions of Britons are flocking to central London as the UK holds a funeral for its deceased monarch for the first time in 70 years.
The UK has been in a prolonged (and, at times, overzealous) period of mourning since Queen Elizabeth II’s death was confirmed 10 days ago.
The pomp and pageantry all comes to a head today with a funeral service in Westminster Abbey, right beside the UK parliament.
What’s the plan for the mass?
The period of lying in state, which saw hundreds of thousands of people queue for hours to file past the queen’s body, came to an end at 6:30am.
Shortly after 10:30am her coffin will be transported the short distance to the church on the Royal Navy gun carriage, which will be towed by 98 Royal Navy sailors, in a tradition dating back to the funeral of Queen Victoria.
The service begins at 11am but doors open a full three hours earlier to allow the approximately 2,000 people who were invited to attend the funeral to take their seats.
The elaborate, mainly gothic, church was last used for a monarch’s funeral back in 1760 when George II was laid to rest. Since then, the preferred church has been St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle however Queen Elizabeth opted for a larger venue.
The service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, with the sermon given by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland will give readings, while several prominent figures in the Church of England will say prayers.
The service is expected to last one hour and towards the end – at around 11:55am – the Last Post bugle call will sound, followed by a two-minute silence, which will be observed by many people across the UK.
Heathrow Airport has plans to stop flights into and out of the airport 15 minutes before and after the silence.
Who is going? And who isn’t?
The funeral will be one of the biggest diplomatic gatherings in decades.
Those present in the congregation will include family members, senior British politicians, former premiers, and more than 100 kings, queens, heads of state and other VIPs.
President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Micheál Martin will be there along with US president Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Italy’s Sergio Mattarella and the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
Archbishop Eamon Martin, the Catholic Primate of All Ireland, will also be in attendence.
Strongmen leaders Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro also made the guest list along with the leaders of most Commonwealth countries including New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who will travel for nearly 24-hours to attend.
After centuries of mingling their bloodlines, Europe’s royal families are closely related so several monarchs from the continent will be in the congregation including Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Philippe King of the Belgians, King Harald V of Norway, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Denmark’s Queen Margrethe and Spain’s King Felipe VI.
The notable absences have drawn nearly as much attention with Pope Francis’s announcement that he would not be going receiving media coverage in recent days.
The pontiff is instead sending his de-facto foreign minister, Bishop Paul Gallagher.
China’s President Xi Jinping isn’t going but Vice-President Wang Qishan will attend as a special envoy. Wang is the most senior Chinese official to visit Britain since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Unsurprisingly, Russia and Belarus are among a small group of nations to be excluded from the service due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin – under a travel ban to the UK because of sanctions – had already said he would not attend.
Military-run Myanmar, a former British colony, and long-time pariah North Korea have also been snubbed.
Met’s biggest security operation ever
With so many VIPs all gathered in one place and millions of citizens lining the streets of Westminster, London’s police force said the funeral is the biggest security operation it has ever undertaken.
Stuart Cundy of the Metropolitan Police said the force was preparing for events ranging from terrorism threats to protests and crowd crushes.
The force is deploying the largest ever number of officers on the city’s streets and the largest protection operation for world leaders and royals in its almost 200-year history.
Divers, dog handlers, police on horses, motorcycle outriders, firearms officers and close protection officers will be among the specialist officers on duty along with officers from almost every force in Britain.
Cundy said the massive operation would surpass other major events in the UK capital, including the 2012 Olympics and the celebrations in June to mark the 70th year of the queen’s reign.
TV coverage
The funeral will be aired live by broadcasters across the world and is set to attract one of the largest UK television audiences of recent decades.
In Britain, BBC One will broadcast uninterrupted coverage from 8am to 5pm while ITV’s coverage starts at 9:30am.
RTÉ will air live coverage for interested Irish viewers with Ray Kennedy presenting the special programming.
The coverage will begin at 10:30am on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player. Wider coverage of the day’s events will also be broadcast on the RTÉ News channel throughout the day.
Private burial
After the funeral a committal service will take place in St George’s Chapel at 4pm.
The congregation at this service will be made up of the members of the queen’s household past and present, including personal staff.
A private burial service will then be held at 7:30 pm. The queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel alongside her husband Prince Philip.
The queen’s mother and father – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the queen mother – were interred there with the ashes of her younger sister Princess Margaret.
Contains reporting from AFP and Press Association
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