SUPPORT OUR JOURNALISM: Please consider donating to keep our website running and free for all - thank you!

DONATE NOW
British Royals

The Vigil of the Princes to take place before thousands paying respects to Queen Elizabeth II

By
15th September 2022

The four children of Queen Elizabeth II will keep vigil over her coffin on the evening of September 16th 2022.

King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex will stand guard over their mother for a quarter of an hour at Westminster Hall while thousands continue to queue to pay their final respects.

They have already kept vigil at her coffin when it lay at rest in St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

The Vigil of the Princes is an established tradition of the House of Windsor. It first took place in 1936 when the four sons of King George V kept watch over his coffin as it lay in state. In 2002, the four grandsons of Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother kept vigil at her coffin in Westminster Hall.

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was brought to Westminster Hall to lie in state on September 14th 2022 with her four children and three of her grandsons walking behind it in procession. The Royal Family was in attendance at a service led around the coffin by the Archbishop of Canterbury before all paying their respects.

Tens of thousands of people have been queuing to file past the coffin. The Lying in State will end at 6.30am on September 19th, just before the State Funeral.

At 10.44 am on September 19th 2022, the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II will be taken on the State Gun Carriage to Westminster Abbey, arriving at 10.52am. The State Funeral will start at 11am. At 11.55am there will be a two minute silence across the UK as the State Funeral comes to an end.

The funeral procession will then move along the Mall and past Buckingham Palace one last time. It will end at Wellington Arch where Her Late Majesty’s coffin will be transferred to a hearse for the drive to Windsor. At 4pm, a Service of Committal will take place at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.

In the early evening, Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at St. George’s along with her husband, the Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They will be buried next to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. The ashes of Princess Margaret are also interred in the chapel. The burial will be private.

Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8th 2022 at Balmoral. She was 96 years old and had reigned for 70 years.

Share:
About author

Lydia Starbuck is Editor in Chief at Royal Central and the main producer and presenter of the Royal Central Podcast and Royal Central Extra.Lydia is also a pen name of June Woolerton who is a journalist and writer with over twenty years experience in TV, radio, print and online. Her latest book, A History of British Royal Jubilees, is out now. Her new book, The Mysterious Death of Katherine Parr, will be published in March 2024.June is an award winning reporter, producer and editor. She's appeared on outlets including BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Local Radio and has also helped set up a commercial radio station.June is also an accomplished writer with a wide range of material published online and in print. She is the author of two novels, published as e-books. She is also a marriage registrar and ceremony celebrant.