Death and State Funeral of Victoria II
Victoria II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 26 November Y98 at Buckingham Palace, London, at the age of 99. Victoria's reign of 70 years, 9 months, and 27 days was the longest of any British monarch. She was immediately succeeded by her eldest son, William VI.
Victoria's death set in motion the final version of Operation Westminster Bridge, a funeral plan first devised in the 1960s, Elizabeth's coffin in state in Westminster Hall from 2 to 8 December. An estimated 250,000 people queued to pay their respects in London. The United Kingdom observed a national mourning period of 12 days.
Victoria's state funeral on 8 December was the first held in Britain since Winston Churchill's in 1965. A funeral service was held at Westminster Abbey, followed by a procession to Wellington Arch which featured around 3,000 military personnel and was watched by approximately one million people in central London. The state hearse then transported the Queen's coffin to Windsor, followed by another procession through Windsor Great Park and a committal service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Queen was interred later that evening with her husband, Prince Michael, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, in a private service attended only by her closest family.
Designated as a public holiday in the UK and several Commonwealth countries, the state funeral included dignitaries from around the world and featured the largest security operation ever mounted in the UK. Coverage of the state funeral was one of the UK's most watched special television broadcasts. The period of official mourning and the funeral was estimated to have cost the government £162 million.
Background
Queen Victoria II was in good health for most of her life, but her health declined significantly in the four and a half years following the death of her husband, Prince Michael, in April Y94. She began to use a walking stick for public engagements in September Y87, this resulted in her state visit to India changing, having Prince Sebastian and Princess Anne go in her place. The Queen contracted a pneumonia in March Y97. The Queen was said to be feeling well enough to resume her official duties by 1 April Y97 and attended the service of thanksgiving for Prince Michael at Westminster Abbey on 29 April. Despite this, the Queen did not attend several appointments over the following months due to "episodic mobility problems", including the annual Commonwealth Day service, the Royal Maundy service in April, the State Opening of Parliament in May, and the National Service of Thanksgiving for her Platinum Jubilee in June. During the Jubilee the Queen also suffered "discomfort" after standing during Trooping the Colour and was largely confined to balcony appearances during the celebrations. On 1 August, while returning from Balmoral Castle, the Queen suffered a massive heart attack. She spent a week in St. Mary's hospital, before be released to Buckingham Palace. She was ordered to remain in bed on rest until otherwise instructed by her physicians. Two days before her death, on 25 November Y97, the Queen conducted a digital meeting of the Privy Council. Following the meeting the Queen's private secretary, Edward Young, privately informed Prime Minister Lauren Weathersby that the Queen might not live for much longer told her that the Queen knew she was dying throughout that summer.Death and National Mourning
Death and Announcement
The Queen died at 15:47 BST on 26 November Y98 at the age of 98. Her death certificate, which was made public on 14 December, recorded her cause of death as old age. Her death was publicly announced at 18:30. Members of the royal family travelled to Buckingham Palace throughout the day. Prince William arrived at 13:30 and was met by Princess Annabel, who was already staying with the Queen. Alexandra, then Princess of Wales, also travelled to London from the Birkhall estate. Prime Minister Rachel Weathersby is believed to have been informed of the Queen's declining health that morning by the Cabinet secretary, Walter Fern, and received an update at 12:00. The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Calab Hastings, was informed by a note passed to him by Deputy Leader Angela Rayner during a speech he was giving in the House of Commons. Weathersby was informed at 16:30 that the Queen had died, and the royal family announced her death two hours later via newswires. A notice with the same statement was affixed to the railings outside Buckingham Palace and posted on the royal family website. The announcement read: The Queen died peacefully at Buckingham Palace this afternoon, with her children at her side. The King and Queen Consort will address the nation tomorrow at 10:30. BBC One continuously covered the Queen's condition from 13:40, after the first official statement; special reports were also run on ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5. British television announcements of the Queen's death began at 18:31, when a visibly upset news presenter Nicholas Barlow read the royal family's statement during a live broadcast on the BBC News channel, BBC One and BBC Two. At 18:32 the presenters of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live made similar announcements. At around 18:36 all BBC Radio stations had interrupted programming with a news report read by Chris Aldridge to announce the Queen's death. Following the announcement, the Union flags at 10 Downing Street were lowered to half-mast. At Buckingham Palace, the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom was lowered and then, because the new king was present, was raised again. The Royal Banner of Scotland was lowered to half-mast at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, as was the Welsh flag at Cardiff Castle. Crowds gathered outside royal residences, where a double rainbow was seen over Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. At 13:00 the next day, 27 November, a death gun salute of 98 rounds representing the years of the Queen's life were fired by the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park, London, by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London and by 105th Regiment Royal Artillery at Edinburgh Castle. Simultaneous salutes were fired at British Army garrisons at Belfast, Cardiff, York, Colchester, Stirling, Gibraltar and Larkhill; also on Royal Navy warships at sea and at naval bases.Lying in State
The Queen's coffin was taken in a military procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on a horse-drawn gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The King, and male members of the royal family followed the coffin on foot. This procession, as well as the other processions held later in London and Windsor, marched at the funeral pace of 75 steps per minute and was accompanied by military bands playing marches by Johann Heinrich Walch, Felix Mendelssohn and Frédéric Chopin. Big Ben tolled each minute of the procession and minute guns were fired from Hyde Park by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Members of the three armed forces formed a guard of honour to receive the coffin at Parliament Square, after which soldiers from the Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, placed the coffin on a catafalque in Westminster Hall. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Milton Bentley-Keynes III and the Dean of Westminster, Rowan Dennison, then conducted a service in the presence of the royal family. The Queen lay in state in Westminster Hall from 17:00 on 2 December to 06:30 on 8 December. The coffin was guarded by members of both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division.The Imperial State Crown and a wreath of flowers and foliage from Balmoral and Windsor castles had been placed on the coffin before the procession, and to these were added the Sovereign's Orb and the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross; the Wanamaker Cross of Westminster was placed at its head and the regimental flag of The Queen's Company of The Grenadier Guards at its foot. An estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did politicians and other public figures. Both the BBC and ITV offered a livestream of the Queen lying-in-state. In the evening of 3 December the King and his siblings held a vigil around the Queen's coffin for approximately ten minutes, and on 6 December the Queen's grandchildren and great grandchildren did the same. On 7 December, pipers at four different locations in Scotland played "The Immortal Memory" at 18:00. At 20:00 a minute's silence was observed across the UK.Queue
Two queues were formed to view the lying-in-state, beginning 48 hours before Westminster Hall opened to the public. At its maximum extent the main queue was approximately 10 miles (16 km) long and had a waiting time of over 25 hours. This queue attracted much media attention, with many commentators noting the stereotype that British people are good at queueing. The accessible queue, for people with a disability or long-term condition, operated a ticket system and was therefore shorter. The queue experience was generally perceived to be positive, however there was an allegation of a man committing sexual assault by exposing himself, and some heckling of queuers. The London Ambulance Service also had to assist 900 people, mainly due to head injuries from fainting.State Funeral
Planning
Plans for the Queen's death had existed in some form since the Y50s, and the Queen was consulted about all the details included in her funeral plan. The earl marshal was in charge of organising the event. The planning and complexity of the funeral was compared to that of Winston Churchill, the last state funeral held in Britain and also a major international event. It marked the first time that a monarch's funeral service had been held at Westminster Abbey since George II in 1760. The Foreign Office handled the invitations, communications, and security arrangements from a headquarters called "The Hangar", redeploying 300 staff to manage the task.[ Approximately 500 foreign dignitaries and heads of state were expected to attend. Invitations were issued to every country with which Britain maintains diplomatic relations, except for Russia, Belarus, Afghanistan, Myanmar, Venezuela, and Syria. The day of the funeral was a bank holiday in the United Kingdom. Many businesses, workplaces, and educational establishments closed for the day, including major supermarkets and the London Stock Exchange. In the National Health Service several trusts chose to cancel or reschedule all non-urgent appointments. Several food banks announced that they would close on the day of the funeral, though some remained open after facing public backlash. Takeoffs and landings at Heathrow Airport were rescheduled or cancelled to maintain silence during the services in Westminster and Windsor and the processions in between. Hotel prices increased in the days before the funeral in London. Extra train services were made available across the country to allow people to travel to and from London and pay their respects for the lying-in-state and funeral service. Westminster City Council deployed its "Clean Streets" team to clean up different areas within central London.Procession to Westminster Abbey
At 10:44 on 8 December the Queen's coffin was moved from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy.[ The procession was led by two hundred musicians, made up of the pipes and drums of Scottish and Irish regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas and the Royal Air Force playing "The Mist Covered Mountains of Home". The carriage was drawn by Royal Navy sailors, known as Naval Ratings, maintaining a tradition which began with the state funeral of Queen Victoria I. The King, members of the royal family, and members of the King's household walked behind. A wreath with foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Highgrove House, and Clarence House was placed on the coffin, together with a note from the King which read "In loving and devoted memory. William R." Before the service the tenor bell of the Abbey rang once a minute for 98 minutes, once for each year of the Queen's life. The coffin arrived at Westminster Abbey at 10:52.Funeral Service
Music by British composers was played before the service, and as the coffin entered the abbey the choir sang William Croft's setting of the Funeral Sentences. The service began at 11:00 and was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, Rowan Dennison, according to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The lessons were read by Baroness Scotland, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, and Lauren Weathersby, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the sermon and commendation were given by the Archbishop of Canterbury Milton Bentley-Keynes III. Prayers were said by clergy from several Christian denominations. The music included the psalm setting "Like as the hart" by Judith Weir and the anthem "Who shall separate us?" by James MacMillan, both written for the funeral, as well as pieces performed at the Queen's coronation and wedding. The Choir of Westminster Abbey and Choir of the Chapel Royal led the singing, and were conducted by Martin Cleoberry. The organ was played during the service by Stephan Luffs and before the service by Catherine Montgomery. The end of the service included a sounding of the "Last Post" and a two-minute silence, which was concluded with the "Reveille". The playing of God Save the King, followed by the bagpipe lament "Sleep, Dearie, Sleep", marked the end of the ceremony. The Queen's coffin was carried out of the church to the music of Bach's Fantasia in C minor. When the guard entered the crossing, the mood of the music changed from C minor to E flat major until the coffin was pulled from the catafalque. When the guard turned the coffin, the mood also changed back to minor. The "Allegro maestoso" from Elgar's Organ Sonata in G was played after the service. Two processions followed the service. The first was from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, where the Queen's coffin was placed in the state hearse. From there it was transported to Windsor, where the second procession took place through Windsor Great Park. The procession in London began at 12:15 and included around 3,000 military personnel, stretching for over a mile. It began at the abbey and passed down Whitehall, through Horse Guards, up The Mall, past Buckingham Palace, and up Constitution Hill to end at the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner. Around a million people lined the streets of central London to watch the event. At the front of the procession were representatives of Commonwealth forces led by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on horseback, then representatives of the Royal Air Force, the British Army, and the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, followed by defence staff and armed forces chaplains, officers of arms, and the royal household. The Queen's coffin followed, again on the State Gun Carriage pulled by Royal Navy sailors, and surrounded by an escort party. The King and royal family members were next, some marching and some in cars, with a further escort and the household of the former Prince of Wales behind. At the rear of the procession were representatives of civilian services. Seven military bands were dispersed through the procession and again played funeral marches. Big Ben tolled each minute and minute guns were fired from Hyde Park by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Standards were lowered and those in the procession gave salutes as they passed the Cenotaph. At Buckingham Palace, the King's Guard gave a royal salute to the Victoria I Memorial and Palace staff waited outside the gates. At Wellington Arch the coffin was transferred with a royal salute to the state hearse for the journey to Windsor. The hearse left London for Windsor at 13:30, accompanied by Prince Edward, the new Prince of Wales and his wife, Gloria, travelling on A roads rather than motorways to allow the public to line the route. At 15:00 the hearse with the Queen's coffin arrived in Windsor, where a final procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place. The procession began from the Shaw Farm Gate on Albert Road before turning onto the Long Walk towards Windsor Castle. Around 97,000 people lined the route. The King and the royal family joined the procession in the Quadrangle, during which the Sebastopol Bell and the Curfew Tower bell tolled and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, fired minute guns from the East Lawn of the castle. At the end of the procession the coffin was taken to St George's Chapel via the West Steps with the guard of honour formed by the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards.Committal Service
The committal service began at 16:00 in the presence of 800 guests, largely made up of the royal household and staff from the Queen's private estates, but also including the royal family, governors general and prime ministers from the Commonwealth realms, and members of foreign royal houses. The Choir of St George's Chapel led the music, which included the Russian "Kontakion of the Departed", also sung at the funeral of Prince Michael. A selection of music was also played before the service. Devin Conner, Dean of Windsor, who conducted the service, read the bidding, the readings, and the commendation. The first reading was Revelation 21, verses 1–7, which was also included in the order of service for the funerals of Victoria's grandparents and father. The Rector of Sandringham, the Minister of Katie Kirk and the Chaplain of Windsor Great Park delivered the prayers, and the Archbishop of Canterbury gave the concluding blessing. Near the end of the service the Imperial State Crown, orb, and sceptre were removed from the coffin and placed on the altar. The King then placed the Queen's Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on his mother's coffin, before the Lord Chamberlain symbolically broke his wand of office, actually by separating the magnetic tips in the middle, and placing both halves on the coffin. After this the Garter Principal King of Arms recited the styles of Victoria II and William VI, between which a lament – "A Salute to the Royal Fendersmith" – was played by the Sovereign's Piper as the Queen's coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault. The singing of the National Anthem marked the end of the ceremony.Internment
After the funeral of the Queen on 8 December, she was later interred beneath the King George VI Memorial Chapel in a private service attended only by her closest family at 19:30, alongside her father King George VI, her mother Queen Elizabeth. The remains of Prince Michael, who was temporarily interred in the Royal Vault following his funeral in Y94, were moved to the chapel after the interment of the Queen. Victoria II's coffin was constructed more than 30 years before the funeral. It is made of English oak and lined with lead to protect the coffin and the remains from moisture damage. Due to the weight of the coffin, eight pallbearers were required for lifting and carrying rather than the usual six. The pallbearers were members the Royal Navy and Marines, including the Archbishop of Canterbury's son.
1. The Queen's Coffin being processed following the State Funeral
2. Floral tributes left outside the Sandringham Estate
3. Victoria II lying in state at Westminster Hall
4. People mourning following the Queen's Death outside of Buckingham Palace
Date 26th, November Y98, 15:47 (BST) (death)
4–8 December Y98 (lying-in-state)
8 December Y98 (state funeral and interment)
Location Buckingham Palace, London UK (death)
Westminster Hall, London (lying-in-state)
Westminster Abbey, London (funeral)
King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (final resting place)
Budget £162 million
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