2,000 people attended the ceremony, including monarchs and world leaders, and the Dean of Westminster gave his thanks to them. From Westminster Hall to the Abbey, King Charles III led a solemn procession carrying his mother’s casket.
The Last Post was played by the same musicians who played it at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral as the Abbey service neared its conclusion, and then the country halted for two minutes of silence. The national anthem was then sung as the King stood motionless.
He wrote a note and put it on the casket of his mother. “In loving and devoted memory,” it said. Charlie R
The service was opened by the Dean, the Very Reverend David Hoyle, who praised the Queen for her “unwavering dedication to a lofty vocation over so many years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth.”
He remarked, “With appreciation we remember her lifetime commitment to service and loyalty to her people.
The congregation performed The Lord’s My Shepherd, a hymn sung during the royal wedding of the late Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen, as Prime Minister Liz Truss read from John 14 to the assembled mourners.
In his sermon, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, paraphrased Dame Vera Lynn as stating, “We will meet again.”
The Queen used it in a rare speech to the country at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Archbishop said: “Her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us, are the source of the pain of this day, felt not just by the late Queen’s family but also throughout the nation, Commonwealth, and world.”
The Queen’s coffin was taken from Westminster Hall, where she had been lying in state since Wednesday, before the service. This was the first of three processions that would take place throughout the day.
The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex followed their father, the King, together. Alongside his siblings, the Queen’s offspring, the King strolled.
Prince William’s two oldest children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, followed the procession inside the Abbey. The State Gun Carriage, pulled by 142 sailors, carried the coffin in the procession to the Abbey as pipes and drums played in the background.
Among the foreign leaders present at the funeral were Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, US President Joe Biden, and French President Emmanuel Macron.
A total of 2,000 mourners, 500 dignitaries, including presidents, prime ministers, and foreign monarchs, attended the state funeral to bid the Queen farewell.