Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral set for Sept. 19
Palace officials say the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will take place Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in London after the public gets an opportunity to pay last respects to the monarch.
Elizabeth, the nation’s longest-reigning sovereign, died Thursday at her summer retreat in the Scottish Highlands.
Details on the 96-year-old queen’s funeral will be released later, but organizers on Saturday described the ceremony as a “a fitting farewell to one of the defining figures of our times.’’
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, joined Prince William and Princess Kate at Windsor Castle to view floral tributes left by the public in honor of the queen.
Palace officials said there would be opportunities to see the late sovereign’s oak coffin as it journeys from Balmoral Castle in Scotland to Edinburgh and again in London, where her body will lie in state for four days starting Wednesday.
A rising tide of anti-royal sentiment thrusts a British throne without Queen Elizabeth into unstable territory.
Prince William has made his first statement about the death of Queen Elizabeth II, saying “it will be some time before the reality of life without Grannie will truly feel real.”
William, who is now heir to the throne behind his father, King Charles III, said in a statement Saturday the queen “was by my side at my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life.”
Royal mourning will temporarily turn attention away from Britain’s many pressing problems and how a new prime minister will tackle them. Then what?
William, the prince of Wales, said the late queen provided “an example of service and dignity in public life that was from a different age, but always relevant to us all.”
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