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Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest-reigning monarch, was laid to rest alongside her late husband Prince Philip in a private burial at St George's Chapel after a state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
The queen’s flag-draped coffin was lowered into the royal vault underneath the chapel, joining her father George VI and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, on Monday evening. It was the final time her coffin was seen in public after 11 days of national mourning.
Earlier, the roughly 40-km route by road from Westminster Abbey in London to Windsor included the coffin processing by state gun carriage and then in the state hearse, a customised Jaguar, to the steps of the chapel. The queen died aged 96 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland on September 8.
President Droupadi Murmu on Monday joined around 500 world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, and royals from across the world at Westminster Abbey for a ceremony to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II - the UK's longest-serving monarch.
Prior to the final hymn, the Imperial State Crown, the orb and the sceptre – known as the Instruments of State – were removed from the coffin by the Crown Jeweller and, with the Bargemaster and Serjeants-at-Arms, passed to the Dean who placed them on the Altar. At the end of the final Hymn, King Charles III placed the Queen's Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on the coffin.
Lord Chamberlain – the most senior officer of the royal household – made the ceremonial gesture to "break" his “Wand of Office” and place it on the coffin.
This, the palace said, is to create symmetry with the three Instruments of State that have been removed. The Camp Colour and the broken wand are both to be buried in the coffin.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby pronounced the final blessing which was followed by the singing of the national anthem, ‘God Save The King’, marking the conclusion of the Committal Service and the public aspect of the funeral service.
The funeral service for Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, was conducted at the same chapel in April last year. Other members of Queen Elizabeth II’s family also lie buried there, including her mother – also Elizabeth, father King George VI, and sister Princess Margaret.
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