The late monarch will be laid to rest following 10 days of mourning.
The funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will take place on Monday, which has been declared a public holiday in the United Kingdom. The state funeral, Britain’s first since the death of Winston Churchill in 1965, has been in the works for decades and is expected to be a huge event — bigger than the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee or even the 2012 Olympics. It’s also expected to be the world’s most watched broadcast of all time, and will be broadcast live by a number of networks, including ABC, CNN, CBS CSPAN, and others. It’ll stream at CBS News Streaming Network, on CNN.com, Today.com and NBCNews.com, to name a few. (And will also stream live on Peacock Premium, Hulu+ Live TV, and Paramount+.)
The funeral will conclude the 10-day period of events following the Queen’s death. On Saturday, the late Queen’s grandchildren — including William and Harry — held a vigil at Westminster Hall, where her coffin has been lying in state since Wednesday. King Charles’ sons stood watch for 15 minutes, with Harry wearing a military uniform (reportedly at the request of his father) after much back-and-forth about his permitted garb. Also on Saturday, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, Prince Andrew’s daughters, released a joint statement honoring their late grandmother: “You were our matriarch, our guide, our loving hand on our backs leading us through this world. You taught us so much and we will cherish those lessons and memories forever. For now dear Grannie, all we want to say is thank you,” it read in part.
Who will be attending the Queen’s funeral?
A number of world leaders will be in attendance, including President Joe Biden, who arrived in London on Sunday. And while there was drama over whether President Trump would be invited (and questions about if President Biden could invite him), President Biden will be the only U.S. leader at the official state ceremony. However, all five living presidents (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump) and their spouses are invited to a memorial service in Washington, D.C. which is being put on in collaboration with the British Embassy.
With respect to the rest of the world’s leaders, many of the invitees are expected to attend (including the Presidents of France, Germany, and Italy), but others are proving to be a bit more controversial. Mohammad Bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, was invited after having met the Queen in 2018 — despite reports that he ordered the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi (a claim which the prince denies). China’s Vice President Wang Qishan will attend in place of President Xi Jinping, who was invited — and whose invitation members of Parliament called to be rescinded due to the Uyghur genocide. Additionally, North Korea, Iran, and Nicaragua have been invited to send ambassadors, but not heads of state. Representatives for Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan were not invited.
The prime ministers of Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Australia are already in London.
What can we expect?
The funeral is a meticulously planned out procession that will start at 6 a.m. ET (or 11 a.m. in the UK). It will begin with the Queen’s coffin being carried by horse-drawn carriage from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, where the funeral service will take place. Senior members of the royal family, including King Charles and Princes William and Harry, will follow the carriage in procession.
2,000 people are expected to attend the state funeral, which will be led by Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. Britain’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, will do a reading, and the Archbishop of Canterbury will give a sermon. Towards the end of the service will be Britain’s military trumpet reveille, followed by a two-minute period of silence. The funeral will close out with the national anthem and a lament from the queen’s personal piper.
After the service ends, the Queen’s coffin will be drawn behind the carriage once more in a walking procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch. It will then be transported by hearse to Windsor Castle, where a smaller service of about 800 mourners will take place inside the chapel. Later that evening, the royal family will hold a private funeral service, after which Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest alongside her late husband, Prince Philip.
What happens next?
King Charles III will be formally crowned king at the coronation, which could happen next spring or summer, although the throne immediately passed to him upon Queen Elizabeth’s death. He is expected to be coronated with St. Edward’s crown, which dates back to 1661, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in a ceremony that’s expected to be “scaled-down” compared to that of Queen Elizabeth II.
