The world is ready to bid a final farewell to the late Queen Elizabeth II, who ruled the British Empire for 70 years. The Queen’s funeral will begin on Monday afternoon local time. The Queen will be laid to rest next to her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at St George’s Chapel in the evening. Ahead of his funeral, various ceremonies will continue throughout the day.
US President Joe Biden, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and many guests of the country have arrived in London to participate in the Queen’s funeral today. The Queen’s funeral will be broadcast live, allowing viewers from anywhere in the world.
Earlier, Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 at the Balmoral Estate in Scotland on September 8. His body was later taken to Westminster Abbey in London. In the last four days, many people have paid their respects to the Queen’s coffin. 8 km long queues, 24 hour waiting time, all will be written in history. England’s former star footballer David Beckham stood in line for 12 hours to get a chance to go in front of the coffin.
Qatar-based media Al Jazeera reported that the Queen’s funeral will begin at 11:00 today. The Queen’s body will be taken from Westminster Abbey to Wellington in London. Her coffin will be carried by state hearse along the ‘Long Walk’ to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where the Queen will be buried in the Chamber of the Royal Vault.
Then Lilybet, Queen to the world, Lilybet to the family, will return to where her father King George VI, mother the Queen Mother, sister Margaret, and husband Prince Philip lie.
About 500 guests and heads of state from different countries of the world will attend the Queen’s funeral. This will end the 10-day long national mourning in Britain. The Queen’s eldest son, King Charles III, said the public outpouring of sympathy following his mother’s death was overwhelming. He thanked everyone.
The gathering of world leaders in London for the Queen’s funeral has not been seen anywhere in the UK in decades. The highest security cordon in British history has been created around this gathering. The security ring is said to extend from manholes underground to the sky.
King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King William Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain have already arrived in London.
Apart from this, members of the royal families of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Monaco also attended. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also attended. Others will include Japanese Emperor Naruhito, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
However, despite being invited, Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the funeral. Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, was not invited. Moscow reacted strongly to this. Apart from this, no representatives of Afghanistan, Belarus, Myanmar, Syria and Venezuela were invited.
