September 19th, 2022.
The United Kingdom, and indeed the world bade farewell to Queen Elizabeth II today.
London was full of people lining the route from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, then to the Wellington Arch and finally along non-motorway roads to her last resting place in St. Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle. The crowd in London itself was estimated at over 2,000,000, with thousands more lining the A4 to Windsor and in Windsor itself.
At Westminster Hall, the Queen’s coffin was placed on the State Gun carriage and taken to Wellington Arch. This stage of the journey was undertaken by Naval Rankings pulling and guiding the carriage along its way.
The carriage was first used at the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901 and is from a British Army Ordnance, BL, 12 pounder 6 cwt, MK II, gun and weighs 2.5 tonnes. The complement of sailors is 98 pulling and 40 behind to act as brakes,
At Wellington Arch, the cortege halted and the coffin was transferred to a hearse for its journey along the roads to Windsor.
An especially nice touch was that people throwing bouquets adhered to a request to place them on the ground without wrappings. The gardeners then took them and laid them out in a display.
At Windsor, there was a service of committal as the final goodbyes were said to the Her Majesty. She was laid to rest in the Royal Vault, alongside her mother, her father and her husband.
Everything had gone well today, you could see the years of planning and experience shining through. It was colourful, respectful and joyous without being voyeuristic.
I could ramble on for ages, but I don’t need to – it was the kind of thing the British do well, full of pageantry, history and colour. An appropriate send-off for one of Britain’s major figures of the 20th/21st centuries.
My little part of the country, 300 miles from London, showed its respect in a different way.
All these pictures were taken at 10-10 am this morning, 30 minutes before the ceremonies were due to begin. It would appear that everyone was indoors, getting ready to watch the day on television.
By 6 pm this evening after the Queen was laid to rest the village was still deserted. Apparently, this was reflected throughout the country as a whole.
It will be interesting to see how the country copes with the transition to the reign of Charles III and how long it will take for things to revert to normal.
There are already interracial riots in Leicester between hundreds of youths of Pakistani and Indian origin. This has only been sparsely reported, but let’s hope it is not a harbinger of things to come, and the country can build on the national coming together of the last 10 days.