Britain bids farewell to the Queen, 'God Save the King' sung
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The funeral of late Queen Elizabeth II observes a two-minute pause in her memory.
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The Queen's coffin traveled across the UK and is now lying in state in London.
World leaders observed a two-minute pause in memory of Queen Elizabeth II at her state funeral in London on Monday.
The burial of Britain's longest-serving monarch concluded with "God Save the King," the rewritten national anthem following her son Charles' succession.
The casket of Queen Elizabeth II arrived at Westminster Abbey on Monday for a magnificent state funeral attended by 2,000 visitors, including foreign leaders.
#QueenElizabethII's funeral is one of the biggest events in the history of the #UK. Here is a walk through the funeral in numbers.#QueenElizabethIIMemorial pic.twitter.com/pYNkPYriYE
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 19, 2022
The state gun carriage carrying the corpse was dragged to the abbey by Royal Navy sailors, followed by a solemn procession by King Charles III and other senior royals in a custom dating back to Queen Victoria's funeral in 1901.
Queen Elizabeth II's great-grandchildren George and Charlotte joined the procession of royals behind her coffin at her funeral in Westminster Abbey.
Read next: Queen Elizabeth II dies at 96: Buckingham Palace
Princess Charlotte, seven, and Prince George, nine, walked behind their mother, Catherine, Princess of Wales. Charlotte wore a black dress and bonnet, while George wore a dark suit.
At the royal burial for Britain's longest-serving queen, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby hailed Queen Elizabeth II's life of devotion and service to the UK and Commonwealth.
"People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer. But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten," he said in his funeral sermon.
World bids farewell to Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest on Monday following a royal funeral attended by world leaders and a spectacular final ceremonial trip through London's crowded streets.
Huge crowds gathered in near silence to witness the queen's flag-draped coffin, topped with the Imperial State Crown, her orb, and scepter, being carefully moved to a gun carriage from Westminster Hall, where it had laid in state since Wednesday.
The gun carriage, which has been used at every state funeral since Queen Victoria's in 1901, was then dragged to Westminster Abbey by 142 junior enlisted sailors from the Royal Navy to the accompaniment of pipes and drums.
The #Queen became the first #British monarch to celebrate a #PlatinumJubilee.
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 3, 2022
Here's how she broke records throughout her reign.#QueensPlatinumJubilee #QueensJubilee pic.twitter.com/U6D5m3pkmh
The tenor bell of the thousand-year-old church tolled 96 times at one-minute intervals – one for each year of her life – until stopping a minute before the service began at 11:00 a.m. (1000 GMT).
After a year of worsening health, the longest-serving monarch in British history died on September 8 at Balmoral, her Scottish Highland home.
Her eldest son and successor, King Charles III, led the solemn procession alongside his three siblings, clad in ceremonial military costume.
Prince William, Charles' eldest son, joined them, as did William's estranged brother, Prince Harry, and other senior royals.
Ends where it began
The Queen's coffin was carried into the abbey, where she was married in 1947 and crowned in 1953, to the tune of "The Sentences", which choirs have sung at every state funeral since the early 18th century.
The funeral was due to last just under an hour, brought to an end by a bugler playing "The Last Post," before two minutes of silence and the reworded national anthem, "God Save the King".
Following an hour-long procession through Buckingham Palace, the casket will be driven west to Windsor Castle, where hundreds have been lining the route since early morning.
6,000 military men have been summoned to participate in the proceedings, which Britain's highest-ranking military official has described as "our final duty for Her Majesty the Queen."
The Queen will be laid to rest with her father, King George VI, mother, Queen Elizabeth, and sister, Princess Margaret, rejoining in death with the family who previously referred to themselves as "us four".
Her husband, Prince Philip, who died last year at the age of 99, will also be buried alongside her.
#QueenElizabethII's funeral is one of the biggest events in the history of the #UK. Here is a walk through the funeral in numbers.#QueenElizabethIIMemorial pic.twitter.com/pYNkPYriYE
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) September 19, 2022
Moreover, Heads of state from US President Joe Biden to Japan's reclusive Emperor Naruhito packed Westminster Abbey, whose 1,000-year history has been tied to royal coronations, marriages, and funerals.
"You were fortunate to have had her for 70 years; we all were," Biden said on Sunday after signing a book of condolence. "The world is better for her."
Liz Truss sat in the abbey pews, having been appointed as the 15th British Prime Minister of her reign just two days before her death, in her final major ceremonial duty.
It is claimed that hundreds of thousands of people queued for up to 25 hours and overnight to pass by the Queen's coffin as it lay in state.
Chrissy Heerey, a Royal Air Force member who entered the long queue twice, was the final person through the doors and described the event as "amazing".
"When they came to me and said, 'right, you're the last person, I said, really?!" she told AFP, before heading off to join the crowds for the coffin's procession through London.
