The Dean of Westminister, The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle MBE, is sharing sympathy with His Majesty The King and the Royal Family following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The Dean said of The Queen and her long association with the Abbey: “It was here in the Abbey that the late Queen swore her coronation oath and set the course for a lifetime of devoted service at the heart of our national life. We now honour her extraordinary grace and strength. She lived through long years of changes with us and was utterly steadfast.
“Her integrity and her dignity have seen us weather the most serious national and international storms. She set at the heart of our national life her own character: a devotion to the principle, not power; to service, not self. She believed in a common life goverened by justice and law, she had profound faith and a real hope. It is that character, and not mere personality, which we honour today.
“We give thanks to God for her life and the faithfulness with which she kept the promises she made to us. We sang ‘God save the Queen’ so often; God now gathers into his loving salvation one who truly loved him and served him.”
As a Royal Peculiar, Westminster is a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch. Over the years, The Queen often visited for state occasions and national services. She also experienced some of the most important moments of her life at the London landmark.
In 1937, 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth watched her father, King George VI, be crowned. She later married Prince Philip just ten years later, on 10 November 1947. On 2 June 1953, she had her coronation at the Abbey. She would also attend the weddings of her children and grandchildren throughout the years at the church. Through happy times, it’s not to be forgotten the Abbey holds sombre memories such as the funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, on 9 April 2002, as well as the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 6 September 1997.
Every year, the Abbey holds its Commonwealth Day Service on the second Monday of March. This event was a significant date in The Queen’s diary. After succeeding her father, she would serve as Head of the Commonwealth for over 70 years.
In June 2018, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries opened – a museum displaying some of the Abbey’s greatest treasures. Later that year, a stained-glass window was unveiled in the north transept to celebrate her reign.
The Abbey is open for worship, reflection, and prayers until 11 September 2022. It will then reopen for religious services on Wednesday, 21 September. Tourists will be allowed to visit once more the following Wednesday, 28 September.
St Margaret’s Church will be open for religious services until Friday, 16 September and will reopen the following Wednesday, the 21st.
The Abbey is not accepting any flowers or tributes. Instead, people are asked to take their tributes to official locations. In this instance, the nearest one to the Abbey is Green Park.
