Queen’s Funeral is underway at Westminster
Newslooks- LONDON – (AP)
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is underway at Westminster Abbey, where 2,000 mourners are gathered to say goodbye to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
The queen’s coffin sits at the center of the abbey after being borne Monday by pallbearers and accompanied by her son King Charles III, and other members of the royal family.
They included Prince William, his wife Kate and their two elder children George, 9 and Charlotte, 7. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, also walked behind the coffin.
Dean of Westminster David Hoyle opened the service in the ancient abbey, where Elizabeth was married and crowned.
He said: “We gather from across the nation, from the Commonwealth, and from the nations of the world, to mourn our loss, to remember her long life of selfless service, and in sure confidence to commit her to the mercy of God our maker and redeemer.”
Liz Truss reads from the Gospel of John
Liz Truss, the UK prime minister, is reading the second lesson from John 14: 1–9.
Truss has been in the job less than two weeks; she met the Queen two days before the monarch’s death to formally take up the role, in what would be the Elizabeth II’s final act of official service.
Her reading follows a rendition by the choir by Judith Weir, Master of the King’s Music.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you,” Truss reads.
“I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
“Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.
“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral procession has arrived at the West Gate of Westminster Abbey for a state funeral service.
Pallbearers have lifted the coffin from the state gun carriage and carried it inside the Gothic medieval abbey where 2,000 mourners stood as it entered Monday.
Crowds lined the route of the procession through London. Bagpipes played as soldiers in bear skin hats and 142 sailors escorted the coffin from Westminster Hall, where the queen lay in state for four full days for the public to pay their respects ahead of her funeral.
The queen’s coffin is draped with the royal standard and a wreath of flowers including blooms and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House at Charles’s request.
They include rosemary for remembrance, and myrtle cut from a plant that was grown from a sprig of myrtle in the queen’s wedding bouquet in 1947.
Pallbearers formed by members of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards have taken Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Westminster Hall for a solemn procession to nearby Westminster Abbey, where her state funeral service is to be held.
The late monarch’s coffin has been lying in state in Westminster Hall for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people have filed past to pay their last respects.
On Monday morning the coffin was placed on a state gun carriage, to be drawn by 142 Royal Navy service personnel to the nearby abbey past crowds of mourners lining the route.
The gun carriage was also used for the funerals of Edward VII, George V, George VI and former Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
King Charles III and other members of the royal family, members of the King’s Household and the Household of the Prince of Wales are following the coffin.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his wife Jill have arrived at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
The American leader is among hundreds of heads of state and political leaders from around the world attending the funeral service in London.
Throngs of people were lined up, six people deep along the route of the funeral procession after the service. Many held up their cellphones to grab images of the day’s events.
Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in the city for the ceremonies.
After the funeral the queen’s coffin will be taken to Windsor Castle to be laid to rest.
A bell at Westminster Abbey has begun tolling 96 times, once for each year of Queen Elizabeth II’s life.
The abbey’s Tenor Bell struck at 9:24 a.m. Monday and was due to toll once a minute until the queen’s funeral service begins at 11 a.m.
Hundreds of mourners have already arrived at the Gothic cathedral for the service. They will be joined by royalty, heads of state and political leaders from around the world.
Others drawn from members of the public include long-serving nurse Nancy O’Neill, recognized for her efforts in the fight against Covid-19, and Pranav Bhanot, who helped deliver 1,200 free meals during the pandemic.
Afterward, a funeral procession will wind through city streets with the coffin carried on the state gun carriage as it makes its way to Windsor Castle to be laid to rest.
London authorities said almost three hours before the procession that all public viewing areas were already full.
Mourners are arriving at Westminster Abbey to take their seats for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral service.
Guests began entering the Gothic medieval abbey shortly after 8 a.m. (0700 GMT; 3 a.m. EDT) on Monday.
Dignitaries were arriving later, with many heads of state gathering at a nearby hospital to be driven by bus to the abbey.
Westminster Abbey is where Elizabeth was married in 1947 and crowned in 1953.
A day packed with funeral events in London and Windsor began early when the doors of 900-year-old Westminster Hall were closed to mourners after hundreds of thousands had filed in front of her coffin since Sept 14.
