UK prepares for funeral of Queen Elizabeth
THE momentous task of arranging a funeral for Queen Elizabeth moves into top gear now as members of the royal family and the public come to terms with her death.
The first day of her death was known as D-day and various official ceremonies are set out for each day until D-day10, next Saturday, when the queen’s funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey.
The code name to announce her death was “London Bridge Has Fallen”.
Queen Elizabeth will be interred at Windsor Castle’s King George VI Memorial Chapel, and the remains of her husband Prince Phillip, which are at the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel, will also be moved there.
King George VI Memorial Chapel is part of St George’s Chapel, where the queen’s parents, George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, as well as her sister, Princess Margaret, were also laid to rest.
King Charles lll met Prime Minister Liz Truss at Buckingham Palace yesterday, their first official audience, and commentators say the first time in history where both parties have begun their new roles at the same time.
On Tuesday, Truss flew to Balmoral estate in Scotland to meet the queen to be welcomed into her new role.
Two days later Truss had a new monarch.
King Charles is expected to tour the UK in the coming days before his mother’s burial.
A sombre king and Queen Consort Camilla arrived at Buckingham Palace from Balmoral Castle in Scotland yesterday afternoon. He greeted sympathising people as echoes of “God Save the King” reverberated through the air.
He held people’s hands, they kissed his hands, one person pecked him on the cheek and many others snapped pictures with their cellphones.
Bells tolled throughout the UK and people left flowers to mark the queen’s death at various places around the world.
The royal standard, which indicates the presence of a monarch, was the only flag seen flapping in the wind: the Union flag was at half-mast, symbolising a nation in mourning.
After the king’s meeting with the prime minister, he made his first official televised public address last night.
This was followed by a remembrance service at St Paul’s Cathedral.
Although he automatically became king when his mother died, today he is expected to meet with the Accession Council, a ceremonial body of various officials which will make formal proclamation of the accession of the successor to the throne.
Veteran broadcaster Sir David Attenborough said the queen had the extraordinary ability to put everyone at ease, although you were always aware that you were in the presence of royalty.
It will be a long time before the world hears Handel’s famous composition, Zadok the Priest, as the coronation of King Charles will not take place for many months, given the mourning period. The queen waited 16 months before her coronation was held.
Antony Phillipson, high commissioner to South Africa, said the death of the queen was a moment of great sadness for everyone in the UK and
South Africa network.
“As the prime minister has said, Queen Elizabeth II was the rock on which modern Britain was built. Through her lifetime of public service, to which she memorably committed in an address delivered from Cape Town on her 21st birthday in 1947, she served the people of the Commonwealth with dignity and grace, and she leaves behind a lasting legacy of fostering friendships worldwide.
“That we are mourning her death in the year that we have been celebrating her platinum jubilee and her 70 years on the throne is especially poignant. We thank His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa for his kind and heartfelt words marking her passing.
“Her commitment to deepening the partnership between the UK and South Africa was steadfast and long held, marked by the many visits she made to this country and the occasions when she welcomed South Africa’s leaders to the UK. I am confident the deepening of those bonds will continue under His Majesty King Charles III, building on the foundations her late majesty created,” he said.