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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on Monday September 19 in a state funeral. The monarch died on Thursday at the age of 79 after spending seven decades on the throne.
The funeral
will begin at 11 a.m. BST and for four days before the funeral, the late queen
will lie in state at London’s Westminster Hall for four days, Newsweek cited a
post to the family’s official website. Authorities have declared a national
bank holiday in the United Kingdom on the day of the funeral, according to
Newsweek.
"The
Queen's Coffin currently rests in the Ballroom at Balmoral Castle," the
post reads, according to Newsweek. "Her Majesty's Coffin will travel to
Edinburgh tomorrow, Sunday 11th September, by road, to arrive at the Palace of
Holyroodhouse, where it will rest in the Throne Room until the afternoon of
Monday 12th September. On the afternoon of Monday 12th September, a Procession
will be formed on the forecourt of the Palace of Holyroodhouse to convey the
Coffin to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. The King and Members of the Royal
Family will take part in the Procession and attend a Service in St Giles'
Cathedral to receive the Coffin."
According to
Newsweek, following the procession, the queen’s coffin will remain at St.
Giles' Cathedral, "to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects."
On Tuesday
afternoon, the coffin will be transported by air from Edinburgh Airport to the
RAF Northolt base, from which it will be transported by road to Buckingham
Palace, according to Newsweek.
On
Wednesday, it will be taken from the palace to Westminster Hall, where the
queen will lie in state, allowing members of the public to visit and pay their
respects, Newsweek reported.
"The
Procession will travel via Queen's Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse
Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square, and New Palace
Yard," the post continues, according to Newsweek. "After the Coffin arrives
at Westminster Hall, The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service
assisted by The Very Reverend Dr. David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, and
attended by The King and Members of the Royal Family, after which the
Lying-in-State will begin."
While the state
funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey, the queen’s body will be buried at
St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, alongside members of her immediate
family, Newsweek reported.
When was Prince Charles official declared King Charles III?
Queen
Elizabeth’s son Prince Charles was officially declared King Charles III in an
elegant ceremony Saturday two days after the Queen’s death.
Several
senior British politicians both past and present as well as new Prime Minister
Liz Truss and five of her predecessors gathered in the ornate state apartments
at St. James’s Palace for the meeting of the Accession Council, The Associated
Press reports.
Speaking at
St. James’s Palace in London, King Charles III said:
“I am deeply aware of this great inheritance
and of the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty which have now
passed to me,” according to the Washington Examiner.
“I know how deeply you and the entire nation,
and I think I may say the whole world, sympathize with me in this irreparable
loss we have all suffered,” the new King added.
King Charles
used the ceremony to declare the day of his mother’s funeral as a public
holiday in the U.K.
Following
the queen’s death, Charles automatically became King although the ceremony
Saturday was a key constitutional and ceremonial step in the introduction of
the new monarch to the country.
At the
meeting of the Accession Council, in the absence of Charles, he was officially
given the title, King Charles III, according to the Associated Press. The king
then joined them, and vowed to follow his mother’s “inspiring example.”
Charles
became king at the age of 73, waiting more than seven decades to ascend the
throne of his fathers. He became the oldest British monarch to be crowned king
after King William IV who was crowned at the age of 64, according to the
Washington Examiner.
The
proclamation was make by David White, the Garter King of Arms, flanked by
trumpeters in gold trimmed robes before leading cheers - “hip, hip hooray!” –
for the new king, according to The Associated Press.
It was
briefly followed by gun salutes in Hyde Park, at the Tower of London and at
military sites around the U.K. as scarlet-robed soldiers in the palace
courtyard doffed their bearskin hats in a royal salute.
96-year-old
Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday shortly
after doctors said they were “concerned” about her Majesty’s health. She had
been on the throne for 70 years, becoming the country’s longest serving
monarch.