London: Queen Elizabeth will be buried alongside her husband Prince Philip in a small chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle in a private ceremony after her state funeral on Monday.
Her parents were also laid to rest in St. George's Chapel.
Elizabeth's funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey, before the coffin is driven to Windsor Castle, just west of London.
Westminster Abbey in central London has been the site of coronations, weddings and burials of English and then British royalty for nearly 1,000 years. Elizabeth was also married and crowned in the Abbey.
The queen's wedding to Prince Philip took place on Nov. 20, 1947. Her coronation was on June 2, 1953. Her final visit was for Philip's Thanksgiving Service on March 29, 2022.
Order of service
Following are some of the details of the order of service for the funeral:
- The state funeral will take place in Westminster Abbey, central London, at 11 am (1000 GMT).
- The funeral will be led by the Dean of Westminster David Hoyle, and the sermon will be given by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
- Before the service, the Abbey's Tenor Bell will toll once a minute for 96 minutes - one toll for each year of the queen's life.
- At the start of the service, as the queen's coffin is carried into the abbey, the Sentences will be sung by the choir of Westminster Abbey. The five Sentences - lines of scripture set to music - have been used at every state funeral since the early 18th century.
- The Dean of Westminster will give the bidding before the first hymn, and the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, will read the first lesson from the book of Corinthians.
- A specially commissioned choral piece composed by the Master of the King's Music, Judith Weir, will be sung by the choir. The piece, "Like as the Hart", is a setting of Psalm 42 to music.
- The second lesson, from the Gospel of John, will be read by British Prime Minister Liz Truss, and will be followed by the hymn "The Lord's my Shepherd". The hymn was also sung at the queen's wedding in 1947.
- Following the sermon, the choir will sing the anthem "My Soul, There is a Country".
- Prayers will be said from the High Altar before the choir sings a short anthem, "O Taste and See How Gracious the Lord is", which was composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams for the queen's coronation in 1953.
- The Archbishop of Canterbury will give the commendation and the Dean of Westminster will pronounce the blessing.
- Near the end of the funeral, around 11:55 am, the Last Post will be sounded by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry from the steps of the Lady Chapel. Two minutes' silence will then be observed across the United Kingdom.
- The Reveille will be sounded by the State Trumpeters before the congregation sings "God Save the King".
- At the end of the funeral the Sovereign's Piper of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will play the traditional lament "Sleep, Dearie, Sleep".
- Afterwards, the bells of Westminster Abbey will be rung, fully muffled, which is the tradition following the funeral of the sovereign.
Windsor Castle to be final resting place
Windsor Castle, where the Queen will be laid to rest, is the resting place of more than a dozen English and British kings and queens. Most are buried in St. George's Chapel, including Henry VIII, who died in 1547, and Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649.
Founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th Century, it is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, according to the Royal Collection Trust website. It has been the home of 40 monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth.
Work began on St. George's Chapel in 1475 under Edward IV, and it contains relics including the Cross Gneth - which legend says includes part of the cross Jesus was crucified on - and a sword Edward III purportedly used in battle.
Queen Elizabeth commissioned the King George VI memorial chapel, named for her father, which is next to the quire of the main chapel, in 1962. It is where he and his wife, the Queen Mother, are interred, along with their younger daughter Princess Margaret.
The coffin of Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, who died on April 9, 2021, last year, has been stored in a Royal Vault so that he can be buried alongside the queen.
