LONDON — Palace officers say the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will happen on Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in London after the general public will get a chance to pay their final respects to the monarch.

Elizabeth, the nation’s longest-reigning sovereign, died Thursday at her summer season retreat within the Scottish Highlands.

Particulars on the 96-year outdated queen’s funeral will probably be launched later, however organizers on Saturday described the ceremony as a “a becoming farewell to one of many defining figures of our instances.”

Palace officers mentioned there could be alternatives to see the late sovereign’s oak coffin because it journeys from Balmoral Fortress in Scotland to Edinburgh and once more in London, the place her physique will lie in state for 4 days beginning Wednesday.

How will the Queen’s coffin return to London?

Preparations are at the moment being made for her stays to be transported again to London. The coffin will first go away Balmoral, the Queen’s Scottish rural retreat, for the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The property is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland.

It should then probably journey in procession to Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral the place the Queen will lie in relaxation earlier than being moved all the way down to London. We do not but know precisely how the coffin will journey south; routes can be found by each rail and air.

How can the general public pay their respects?

Previous to the funeral, the Queen will Lie-in-State in Westminster Corridor for 4 days, to permit the general public to pay their respects, based on a launch from the royal household. Hundreds are anticipated to queue, with some doubtlessly sleeping out in a single day in a bid to pay their respects.

Previous monarchs’ coffins have rested on a raised platform — or catafalque — in the course of the corridor, guarded across the clock by items from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Family Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

Brass plaques within the Eleventh-century corridor mark the spot the place Edward VII lay in state in 1910, George V in 1936, George VI in 1952 and Queen Mary a yr later. The corridor, which is greater than 1,000 years outdated, can be the place wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill lay in state in 1965.

The Queen Mom was the latest member of the royal household to lie in state within the corridor (and solely the second royal consort to be granted the honour) in 2002. On that event, her grandsons — Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley — took half within the guard, in what’s unofficially referred to as “The Vigil of the Princes.”

King George V’s sons additionally stood guard at his mendacity in state. The palace has but to verify who would possibly take part within the guard for the Queen.

What would possibly the Queen’s funeral seem like?

As monarch, Queen Elizabeth will routinely be granted a publicly funded state funeral.

The abbey was based in 960 AD by Benedictine monks, and is without doubt one of the most recognizable landmarks in London. It has usually been the setting for royal milestone moments like coronations, weddings and funerals all through the years.

We’re nonetheless just a few days away from a visitor listing, however heads of state and dignitaries from world wide will probably make their option to the British capital to have a good time the Queen’s life and 70-year service to the nation. Different acquainted faces will probably be a few of the Queen’s 15 former prime ministers and senior lawmakers.

British royal members of the family who maintain excessive navy rank, the consort of the sovereign, and the inheritor to the throne are usually granted ceremonial royal funerals as an alternative, as was the case for Prince Philip’s funeral in April 2021.

In response to a 2013 Home of Commons briefing notice, the key variations between state and ceremonial funerals are {that a} state funeral requires approval by parliament and that the gun-carriage carrying the casket is drawn by Royal Navy sailors, moderately than horses.

The custom of the sailors started at Queen Victoria’s state funeral in January 1901. In response to the royal household’s official web site: “The horses that have been supposed to tug the gun-carriage turned stressed standing within the chilly and have been behaving in a harmful method, so … a crew of sailors took over the duty of pulling the gun carriage to St. George’s Chapel.”

A handful of non-sovereigns have been granted the honour of a state funeral, together with Isaac Newton, Horatio Nelson, the primary Duke of Wellington and, after all, Churchill.

After Churchill’s demise in 1965, it was Queen Elizabeth II who submitted a notice to Parliament, stating that the wartime chief had “served his nation unfailingly for greater than 50 years and within the hours of our best hazard was the inspiring chief who strengthened and supported us all.”

The place will the Queen be interred?

After the Queen’s funeral service, her coffin will make its ultimate journey out of London and in the direction of Windsor. Its vacation spot is the now-familiar St George’s Chapel throughout the grounds of Windsor Fortress.

Prince Philip’s memorial service was held there, in addition to extra jubilant events just like the nuptials of the Queen’s grandchildren.

Following the service for the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021, his coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault, set beneath the chapel, the place many royal members of the family have been laid to relaxation. Nevertheless, with the Queen’s demise, he’s anticipated to be relocated and the pair reunited to lie collectively on the King George VI memorial chapel elsewhere inside St. George’s.

Info from the Related Press and CNNWire have been used on this report.