State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II: 19 September 2022

[Drakes]

A sunset picture from Windsor tonight - taken just as the private burial service was about to start.

 

[bethaliz6894]

Thank you to all who suggested watching the service on Sky News, the coverage was exceptional.

Yes, there was at least one person of color acting as a pallbearer in Edinburgh, but not in London. It’s hard to believe a suitable bearer could not have been found. Racial healing occurs in various fashions, and representation at important events is one of them.
Missed opportunity.

Someone died and was buried today. Family members lost someone they loved very much. Kids lost a mom. Grandchildren lost a Grandma. This is a time for sadness, mourning, and reflection. This is a time to pray for the deceased and their families. It is not a time to make it about black, brown, or white skin.

I am very upset that almost every race comment has come from someone with USA next to their name. We have no right to get upset if the family or country has different ideas or beliefs than what we live with.

Please be thankful we were allowed to watch and be a part of this beautiful day and was allowed to greive with the family for a very much loved person.

 

[HRHHermione]

Thank you to all who suggested watching the service on Sky News, the coverage was exceptional.

I really agree with that- I wouldn’t have chosen them if it wasn’t for that. I’d normally choose the BBC. But Sky News did a lovely job

 

[camelot23ca]

Watching the Queen's piper walk away as he played, as he left her for the last time, actually made me tear up, and I don't cry at funerals. I didn't even cry at my mother's.



He really looked like he was about to burst into tears. I can't imagine having to suppress every ounce of grief and pain because you're in public, on TV. I hope once he and Camilla are alone later, or even just with his family, he has a good cry.

I felt emotionally exhausted after just watching the funeral on television. I can’t imagine how Charles and the rest of the family must be feeling after ten days of non stop activity in the public eye. I hope seeing the vast and genuine outpouring of respect and affection from the public for the Queen has offered them some comfort. But I also hope they all get a chance to spend some time grieving in private over the next while.

The funeral and the rest of the activities today were magnificent. I thought they were perfectly balanced between being appropriately grand but with plenty of personal touches.

 

[Hallo girl]

How would they bury her if she was committed down into the vault?

There was a private burial this evening in the George vI chapel.

 

[Count langley]

Where was the Duchess of Kent? I did not see her attend any functions.

 

[Frelinghighness]

Knowing what a stickler the Queen was for gloves, I was amazed at the number of women who didn't wear them. From what I could tell, only Sarah and the York girls, Princess Alexandra, Lady Gabriella and Princess Michael and Queen Maxima wore gloves.

 

[sarahedwards2]

There was a private burial this evening in the George vI chapel.

So did they take the coffin out of the vault?

 

[suztav]

Someone died and was buried today. Family members lost someone they loved very much. Kids lost a mom. Grandchildren lost a Grandma. This is a time for sadness, mourning, and reflection. This is a time to pray for the deceased and their families. It is not a time to make it about black, brown, or white skin.

I am very upset that almost every race comment has come from someone with USA next to their name. We have no right to get upset if the family or country has different ideas or beliefs than what we live with.

Please be thankful we were allowed to watch and be a part of this beautiful day and was allowed to greive with the family for a very much loved person.

I'm an American and I totally agree with you. As someone else said ... inclusivity for the sake of it, is just pandering and so obvious and insulting to the people for whom the issue is real.

 

[Toledo]

It was a beautiful event on TV. I loved King Charles not afraid of being emotional, that hit me hard and I even started crying thinking on his personal loss

 

[yukari]

My, it feels like a long strange dream.

Bravo to the Met, MI5, MI6, GCHQ! These past few days must be a nightmare!! I kept thinking, "man, if someone want to start WW3, just send missile to the Abbey and it's over". Job well done!! Hopefully now they can have a drink and relax. They deserve it.

Yes, there was at least one person of color acting as pallbearer in Edinburgh, but not in London. It’s hard to believe a suitable bearer could not have been found. Racial healing occurs in various fashions, and representation at important events is one of them.
Missed opportunity.

You know what, let's say if they were to pick one person from each Commonwealth Realms as pallbearer in the name of inclusivity or representation, some people would still took offence crying oppression or collonialsm of the empire. See the Cambridges' Caribbean tour or Tuvalu, in the name of "optic", even innocent pictures could be turn into racism.

 

[Marengo]

And on that note, please move on from the race-discussion. New posts on this matter will be deleted.

 

[Alisa]

Knowing what a stickler the Queen was for gloves, I was amazed at the number of women who didn't wear them. From what I could tell, only Sarah and the York girls, Princess Alexandra, Lady Gabriella and Princess Michael and Queen Maxima wore gloves.

From the family, the majority of the royal women carried them but never wore them...Catherine, Camilla, and Sophie.The Duchess of Sussex was the only lady that actually wore her gloves!

 

[sndral]

So did they take the coffin out of the vault?

Here’s the layout of Royal burials at St. George’s https://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/a.../royal-burials/royal-burials-chapel-location/.
Following the death of her father King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II had a very small annex added to St. George’s as the final resting place for her parents & herself/Phillip - it’s called the George VI memorial chapel. When it was completed in 1969 her father’s body was moved from the main Royal vault in St. George’s where he’d been interred 17 years earlier to that small specially built memorial chapel. Her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen mother, was directly interred in the George VI memorial chapel when she died in 2002. Princess Margaret’s ashes were initially interred in the Royal vault but were moved into the George VI memorial chapel when her mother died.
When Prince Phillip died his body was placed in the main Royal vault at St. George’s w/ the plan that once the Queen died they would both be buried together w/ her parents in the George VI memorial chapel. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/queen-king-philip-margaret-st-georges-chapel-b1026728.html
My guess is that the Queen was temporarily interred today in the Royal vault because of the public nature of the service - it likely wasn’t practical to bury her directly in the very small King George VI memorial chapel and since Prince Phillip’s coffin was to be removed from the Royal vault & reinterred along with the Queen in the George VI memorial chapel it makes sense to me to do so privately.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

So did they take the coffin out of the vault?

The lowering down in the Chapel was the definitive public farewell but the coffin still has to be moved to the exact final resting place.

We see that with more royal or papal burials, that a coffin is placed in a temporary space until servants make the final arrangements. For an example: sometimes the coffin of an earlier deceased spouse "awaits" in a temporary place until it can be interred together in a final place.

Often additional craftmanship is required like inscripted marble deckstones, monumental sculptures, stained glasswork, the recreation of Arms and/or monograms and other regalia. To keep the disturbance at a minimum it is better when a coffin (or coffins) are kept in a side-vault until all works have completed and servants can finally move these into their intended places.

During the service in St George's Chapel we repeatedly saw bird-eye views of the Choir with the Garter stalls. It was visible that there were two Spanish and two Dutch royal standards for the Garter Knights Juan Carlos, Beatrix, Felipe and Willem-Alexander.

We have not seen the Belgian and Luxembourg royal couples in St George's Chapel, I believe. They have no Garter. But at the other hand we saw the Romanian royal couple (I am not sure, the broadcast barely showed any glimpse). So probably it was a mix of Garter Knights and good friends in the stalls opposite the royal family.

 

[An Ard Ri]

A sunset picture from Windsor tonight - taken just as the private burial service was about to start.View attachment 303098

Windsor is truly a majestic setting

 

[cdm]

Some pictures of the European Royals meeting King Charles at the reception.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cit8smhKqOD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cit-vw8OGp7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

 

[Denville]

Where was the Duchess of Kent? I did not see her attend any functions.

She is elderly and in poor health. For quite some time she has given up any kind of public duties, and clealry she wasnt well enough for the funeral. Im sure she would have been there if she could.

 

[lucien]

State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II

Westminster Abbey

September 19, 2022

***​

I thought it all very dignified and moving.As was to be expected.

 

[Denville]

well when you think of the years of planning, the number of people involved in working it out and preparing it, it would be odd if it DIDNT go well

 

[maria-olivia]

For the last time Prince Philip had to wait the Queen...

 

[Mbruno]

.

During the service in St George's Chapel we repeatedly saw bird-eye views of the Choir with the Garter stalls. It was visible that there were two Spanish and two Dutch royal standards for the Garter Knights Juan Carlos, Beatrix, Felipe and Willem-Alexander.

When King Felipe VI ascended the throne, he actually adopted a slightly different standard , which was considered more "historically accurate" than his father's. The most eye-catching difference, which you can clearly see looking at the banners hanging in St George's chapel, is that the Lion Rampant in the second quarter has a purple-like color in King Felipe VI's standard and a bright red color in the standard of King Juan Carlos. There are also different designs for other charges like the tower in the first quarter and the chain in the lower right quarter. The heraldic description of those charges, I believe, is actually the same, but their realizations are different.

King Willem-Alexander's and Princess Beatrix's banners in the chapel are, on the other hand, identical if I am not mistaken.

During the committal service, one could also get a glimpse of King Harald's, King Carl Gustaf's, and Queen Margrethe's banners of arms, and also of the Imperial Seal of Japan, which was used by Emperor Akihito.

Curiously, it was easier to see the banners of the Stranger Knights than those of the members of the British Royal Family themselves because of their position in the chapel and the angle of the camera.

Finally, the reason why Grand Duke Henri and King Philippe were present at the Abbey Service and not at the committal is unclear. Obviously, either they were not invited or, for some other reason they could not attend (like Queen Letizia or CP Frederik, who had other urgent engagements). Both Henri and Philippe are third cousins once removed of the late Queen Elizabeth II (in her line of descent from King Christian IX via Queen Alexandra) and both Philippe's uncle and Henri's father were Knights of the Garter. I find it unlikely that they would not have been invited to the committal unless there was a Knights/Ladies of the Garter only rule, but, as you said, that was not the case based on the presence of the Greeks and the Romanians.

 

[Andy T]

Apparently, Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia was unable to attend due to having tested positive for Covid. I didn't see Archduke Karl of Austria, though I read that he would attend. I had hoped that Georg Friedrich of Prussia would have been invited, likewise the Duke of Bragança. Among the other 'missing' royal houses were, it seems, Albania (Crown Prince Leka), Montenegro (Nikola) and Russia (Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna).

 

[Alisa]

I did not see any Thai representative at the funeral. Did I miss them or did they send no one?

 

[Blog Real]

Apparently, Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia was unable to attend due to having tested positive for Covid. I didn't see Archduke Karl of Austria, though I read that he would attend. I had hoped that Georg Friedrich of Prussia would have been invited, likewise the Duke of Bragança. Among the other 'missing' royal houses were, it seems, Albania (Crown Prince Leka), Montenegro (Nikola) and Russia (Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna).

Were, apparently, Albania (Crown Prince Leka), Montenegro (Nikola) and Russia (Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna)? I didn't read anything about it.

 

[Mbruno]

The article and the pictures below in The Daily Mail may interest the forum members.


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/...rchs-pay-tribute-Queen-attending-funeral.html

 

[kathia_sophia]

Some pictures of the European Royals meeting King Charles at the reception.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cit8smhKqOD/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cit-vw8OGp7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

That melted my heart. Loved how they smiled together and touched each other in support. Truly shows the close friendship Charles has with the other monarchies in Europe. They all looked like friends.

 

[Mirabel]

This is a minor quibble, but did anyone else feel that they should have used all white flowers on the coffin?
Those pink flowers clashed with the royal standard.

 

[Iluvbertie]

No - why - because the Queen planned what she want and they went along with her wishes. If she wanted white flowers she would have had white flowers.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The Irish President Michael D. Higgins, his wife Sabina and the Taoiseach (PM) Micheál Martin along with his wife all attended the State Funeral yesterday.