The note read ‘In loving and devoted memory’ and was signed Charles R
IT was the haunting sound of his mother’s piper fading away into the distance that brought the first tear to the King’s eye.
Gazing at the Queen’s coffin, lost in a private bubble of grief, the King seemed jolted by the refrain of ‘Sleep, dearie, sleep’, bringing back memories of Balmoral, of picnics by the lochs and, above all, his beloved mama’s infectious smile.
It was a touchingly relatable moment of deep personal suffering amid the pomp and ceremony of yesterday’s majestic state funeral – and one that was shared by the entire 2,000-strong congregation many times along the way.
For some it was the first sight of the Queen’s tiny coffin draped in the Royal Standard as it was borne through the lofty Gothic glory of Westminster Abbey that brought the emotion of the occasion brimming to the surface.
Others found the opening bars of The Lord’s My Shepherd – sung at the wedding of a besotted 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth, as she was then, to her adored Philip – almost too much to bear. But every guest – the good, the great and
‘Old household retainers kissed each other warmly’
the humble – found a personnel connection to the sovereign somewhere along the way.
When the doors to the historic place of worship opened at 8am yesterday there was the sense of a family reunion, emphasising the Queen’s ability, even in death, to unite.
Old household retainers kissed each other warmly, diplomats mingled, and the 200 key workers and 183 ‘everyday heroes’ invited to represent Her Majesty’s people marvelled at their surroundings.
They included Ella Marks, an 88-year- old woman who records talking books and attended George VI’s coronation on her father’s shoulders on The Mall in 1937, as well as Natalie Queiroz, from Birmingham, who teaches children about the dangers of knife crime.
Extra benches had been set up in the Quire at the centre of the Abbey to seat the extra choristers from The Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace, who had been brought in for the day. Towering displays of Asiatic lillies – a traditional funeral flower – gladioli, alsroemeria, eustoma and foliage including English oak, weeping birch and myrtle, stood either side of the High Altar made by the National Association of Flower Arranging Societies.
Beneath them the empty raised catafalque, last used for the coffin of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, lay waiting with towering lit
candles, often placed at the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, at each corner. It was draped in a blue cloth printed with flora and birds, with blue and gold tassel fringing. On the top was a small wooden support covered with rollers to aid the coffin’s smooth transition.
Surrounding the south lantern – where members of the Royal Family were due to sit – was a sea of chairs each bearing the name of a different country, demonstrating the Queen’s global reach.
The rows on both the south and north transcepts began to fill up shortly after 9.30am, first with heads of state and heads of government – including US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill – then Victoria and George Cross holders.
They were followed by religious representatives, ministers of the devolved assemblies, former prime ministers, and then the current holders of the positions – Liz Truss from the UK and her counterparts in the 14 other realms globally where Her Majesty was still head of state.
They were followed members of foreign royal family at 10.30am: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherland and the striking ‘Dragon King and Queen’ of Bhutan, to name but a few.
What was so notable about their entrance is that there was no fanfare or strictly adhered to order of precedence.
The Emperor of Japan queued behind the Sultan of Brunei, one of the world’s richest men, both patiently waiting to offer up their ticket, guarded by two finely plumed officers from the Honourable Corps of Gentleman at Arms. President Biden, the leader of the free world, sat behind the president of Poland.
In death, as in life, Queen Elizabeth II was a leveller. A woman born into wealth and privilege, yet one with precious little ego at all.
At 10.30am the Queen’s stalwart cousins, the Duke of Kent and Prince Michael of Kent, both now in their 80s, arrived. They were stooping and bow-legged but determined to do their Lilibet proud. Within minutes they were followed by extended Royal Family party – numbering 52 in all – from the Queen’s grandchildren, Beatrice, Eug
‘The two youngsters were such a credit to their parents’
enie and Zara, to her beloved niece and nephew, Lady Sarah Chatto and Lord Snowdon, who brought her so much comfort over the years.
At 10.37am the Queen Consort, Princess of Wales, and in a surprise appearance, Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, seven, the youngest of the Queen’s great-grandchildren present, arrived at the West Door by car.
The two youngsters were such a credit to their parents: George in a blue suit and black tie, looked sombre but not overwhelmed, while Charlotte wore a pretty black wool coat and matching hat and sported a sweet diamond horseshoe-shaped brooch touchingly given to her by her beloved ‘Gan Gan’.
Elegant as always, Kate, wearing Alexander McQueen and the Queen’s pearls, held her daughter’s hand tightly as they walked in, with Camilla seen later telling their proud father: ‘They’ve been so good.’
The Queen Consort was elegant in a black tailored coat dress from Fiona Clare and sported a striking tribute to Her Majesty: A Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Hesse Brooch made by Faberge in the shape of a heart with the number 60 inside and three large sapphires.
They were joined by the Duchess of Sussex, sporting a striking Stella McCartney cape-style coat with the pearl earrings given to her by the Queen as a wedding present.
She had travelled with the Royal Family’s ‘peacemaker-in-chief’, the Countess of Wessex, who also waited for the procession party.
For a while the only sound that could be heard from outside was the tolling tenor bell of the Abbey, each boom signifying a year of the Queen’s life. Soon, though, the distant sound of the pipers of the massed Pipes and Drums of the Scottish and Irish Regiments could be heard by those inside.
The Bearer Party, formed of ten former royal equerries from the Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, carefully lifted the coffin from the state gun carriage, members of the Royal Family who had followed it from Westminster Hall waiting patiently to accompany it inside.
The King looked with real concern at his youngest son, Prince Harry, who was wearing