Abbey host to defining events
LONDON: The Queen’s funeral is to take place at Westminster Abbey — the site where she was both married and crowned.
It will be the first time in more than 260 years that a sovereign’s funeral has taken place in the abbey; the last was that of George II in 1760.
The coffin will be taken in a grand military procession from the Palace of Westminster to the abbey for the service at 11am local time (10pm New Zealand time).
Two thousand guests are expected to attend the funeral, which will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, with the sermon given by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Lessons will be read by the British Prime Minister and the Secretarygeneral of the Commonwealth, while the Archbishop of York, the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Free Churches Moderator will say prayers.
Last Post will sound at the end of the service, followed by two minutes of silence.
The late Queen’s most defining milestones took place at the abbey, both in terms of her personal happiness and her public duty.
Princess Elizabeth was 21 when, on November 20, 1947, she married her prince in the surrounds of the central London church.
Just five years after she married, the princess became Queen
Elizabeth II on the death of her father, George VI.
On June 2, 1953, she was crowned at the abbey — the scene of coronations for some 900 years.
An estimated 27 million people in Britain watched the ceremony on TV after the Queen agreed it could be televised.
Her daughter, Princess Anne, married Captain Mark Phillips in the church in 1973, while her second son, the Duke of York, wed Sarah Ferguson in 1986.
In 2011, her grandson, the Duke of Cambridge — now the Prince of Wales — exchanged vows with Kate Middleton as millions watched across the globe.
The church was also a reminder of the loss of her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and former daughterinlaw, Diana, Princess of Wales. The Queen Mother’s funeral was held at the abbey in 2002, five years after Diana’s.
Westminster Abbey is the final resting place of 17 monarchs, including Charles II and Elizabeth I. — PA