Following a solemn State Funeral full of pomp and ceremony at Westminster Abbey, the late Queen Elizabeth II left London for the last time in a magnificent procession.
Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral ended shortly after noon, at which point the Bearer Party, consisting of members of The Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, returned her coffin to the State Gun Carriage for a procession to Wellington Arch.
Buckingham Palace released details of the procession late last week, noting that it would include detachments from the various Armed Forces of the Commonwealth as well as the previous Royal Navy and other detachments who’d been part of the procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police also formed a guard.
King Charles III was again accompanied by the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, Peter Phillips, the 2nd Earl Snowdon, the Duke of Gloucester and Sir Timothy Laurence in the procession.
Queen Camilla, the Princess of Wales, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, the Countess of Wessex, the Duchess of Sussex and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie followed behind in cars.
Throughout the procession, from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, Minute Guns were fired by The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park, and Big Ben tolled.
There had been worry that Big Ben might not toll after a mechanical failure stopped the clock from chiming at 8:00 pm on Sunday evening during the national minute of silence, but its engineers promised to have it up and running again in time for Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral.
As the royal party reached the Cenotaph at Whitehall, The King, Prince William, Princess Anne and Prince Edward saluted the memorial.
Another brief ceremony took place once the late Queen’s coffin reached Wellington Arch, in the presence of members of the Royal Family, a Royal Salute was given and the National Anthem was played as Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin was transferred from the State Gun Carriage to the State Hearse and departed for Windsor, where a committal service will take place at St. George’s Chapel.
