The world will be watching. Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, in St George’s Chapel during her funeral on Monday, September 19.
United States residents will be able to watch live coverage of the historic event on NBC, CNN, ABC and Fox News. The funeral will begin at 6 a.m. ET after a procession of the queen’s coffin from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey, which is set to begin at 5:44 a.m. ET.
According to NPR, as many as 750,000 people are expected to travel to London for the occasion and pay their respects to the longest-reigning British monarch. Buckingham Palace announced the news of the queen’s death at age 96 in a statement on September 8.
“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow,” the statement read. King Charles III immediately assumed his rightful place as sovereign upon his mother’s passing.
Prince William is now first in line for the throne followed by his three children with Princess Kate — Prince George, 9, Prince Charlotte, 7, and Prince Louis, 4. His brother, Prince Harry, is now fifth in the line of succession.
Her Majesty will be honored with a state funeral, unlike her husband, who died at age 99 in April 2021. At the time, a source told Us Weekly that the royals opted not to have a large ceremony commemorating the Duke of Edinburgh as they didn’t “want his death to have a negative impact on the U.K.’s [COVID-19] pandemic protocols.” A more private service was held at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle instead.
Philip and Elizabeth had been married for more than 70 years at the time of his death. They shared four children — Charles, 73, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward — along with eight grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
The queen, who celebrated her historic Platinum Jubilee earlier this year, will be honored with a two-minute nationwide moment of silence at midday on Monday. The London Stock Exchange is expected to close for funeral day, which Charles declared a bank holiday in one of his first actions as king.
The monarch’s coffin will be adorned with items from the royal family’s Crown Jewel collection, including the orb and sceptre, which both date back to Charles II’s coronation in 1661. The orb symbolizes heavenly power while the sceptre represents the monarch’s power in the secular world. Both pieces of regalia are expected to be used at the former Prince of Wales’ eventual official coronation, a date for which the palace has not announced.
Britain’s new monarch paid tribute to his late mother shortly after her passing.
“The death of my beloved mother, Her Majesty The Queen, is a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family,” he wrote in a statement on September 8. “We mourn profoundly the passing of a cherished Sovereign and a much-loved Mother. I know her loss will be deeply felt throughout the country, the Realms and the Commonwealth, and by countless people around the world.”
