Nowhere in the world would such an act of burial be conceivable. When the British buried their dead queen on Monday, they mobilized everything the state, church, military and, of course, the monarchy had at their disposal.
Gathered reverently around the coffin under the royal flag and imperial crown, King Charles III, the royal family, the royal house, dignitaries, monarchs, presidents and heads of government from nearly all over the world, and 2,000 other guests bid farewell to the British. monarch who died at the age of 96. A colossal spectacle had been staged for this farewell, more so than on any occasion during the life of Elizabeth II.
Gowns, uniforms and official gowns
Solemn hymns rising from the high vault provided the setting for the service at Westminster Abbey. Festive uniforms, official robes and chains, red cassocks, robes of all colors filled the solemn abbey. White feathered helmets, golden coats of arms, swords and many military medals had the special touch to ensure the proper touch. The performance ended with ceremonial blasts of trombones, the national anthem and a final salute with bagpipes. The whole lived, in its seductive fullness, in the splendor of a time that stretched back centuries. Archbishop Justin Welby made it clear that the dead monarch deserved nothing more: “On her 21st birthday, Her Majesty declared in a radio address that she wanted to dedicate her entire life to the service of the nation and the Commonwealth. . so well kept, so.”
Touched, the many prominent guests, including US President Joe Biden and Emperor Naruhito of Japan, bowed to the monarch. Little Prince George, seated in the front row with his sister Charlotte and their parents, followed the course of the celebrations fascinated and dutifully played his part. George knows that, after Grandpa Charles and Papa William, he will one day inherit the crown.
With the procession to and from the abbey, to the sound of drums and the one-minute chime of Big Ben, an attempt was made to mark the farewell of Isabel II with an unprecedented ceremony. The coffin was carried first through Westminster, then along the Mall to Buckingham Palace and then on to Wellington Arch and Hyde Park Corner in the state carriage with powerful wheels, which was kept for this purpose only.
Marines’ Platoon of Arms
138 Royal Navy sailors – 98 in front and 40 behind the coffin – were tasked with this task. In fact, the fact that they pulled the carriage and not other members of the troop was purely coincidental. In 1901, when the carriage carrying Queen Victoria’s coffin did not move because Victoria’s eight “white and cream-colored ponies” were not strong enough to pull it, Prince Louis Battenberg hurriedly ordered the cadets of the Royal Navy to do the work to take control. Since then, the sailors’ carriage has been a tradition.
Fortunately, Elizabeth II’s funeral procession followed the long-cherished plan. In the past, royal funeral trains were stuck in mud, here and there. And at George V’s funeral, the jewel-studded Maltese cross rolled from the coffin onto the pavement. Luckily, a police officer saw him and brought him to safety.
On Monday, on the other hand, all went well. Heralds, military bands, and entire troops, dressed in festive attire and arms crossed behind their backs in respect, accompanied the Pressions procession, which in all was a mile long. Behind the coffin walked the new king, Charles III, with his brothers and two sons. However, Princes Andrew and Harry had to come back in civilian clothes because they are no longer part of the Windsor Association’s “working royalty”.
One to two million viewers
Between one and two million people are said to have been standing in the British capital on Monday to take a look at the funeral procession somewhere along the route. The big stations, which many special trains had entered the day before, were kept open all night – not least because it was a relatively cool night on the Thames. Many restaurants also remained open 24 hours a day.
Those who did not dare to “go ahead” or wanted to know more about the events of the day could, in the meantime, follow the services and processions everywhere on the screens. Thousands flocked to parks, bars and football stadiums to “be there”.
More than twenty cathedrals across the country have opened their portals to invite believers and non-believers alike to the grand show beneath their crossed vaults. Hundreds of movie theaters also put the funeral procession on the show. Tickets were sold in record time.
Politicians like Birmingham City Council leader Ian Ward said many of their fellow citizens could not travel to London but still wanted to spend the day “together”. Even a golf course put a mega screen over its golf holes “no charge for the visit”.
New records in television broadcasts
Meanwhile, new records are believed to have also been set for television broadcasts – on virtually every major British channel. More than 35 million Brits apparently tuned in during the day. More than four billion people around the world are said to have followed the events in London. BBC studios spoke of the “television event of the century”.
But there weren’t just benevolent statements to be heard in the media. That the royal family should be declared a symbol of duty and sacrifice in a society as unequal as Britain’s is simply “false”, said left-wing Labor MP Clive Lewis. And arresting protesters against the succession to the throne, as has happened several times, has “at least as much to do with coercion as with general consent”.
All politicians are aware that returning to “normal” after the last eleven days will not be easy. The national holiday, the Monday of the funeral, when most businesses were closed, brought additional trouble to the country in the midst of a severe economic crisis and is now pushing it to the brink of recession.
But enthusiastic royalists would not hear of it that day. The only thing that mattered to her was Elizabeth II’s farewell, her escort on the last leg of her journey. From Wellington Arch, the monarch’s coffin was taken by carriage to Windsor, passing through several boroughs of London and several small communities to the west of the city. Thousands of people lined up along Windsor’s so-called “Long Walk”, the long entrance to the castle. And at Windsor Castle itself, another service, this time smaller, was held in the late afternoon at St George’s Chapel, which over the years became the final resting place of several British monarchs.
In the evening, the queen’s coffin was placed in the tomb of King George VI, in the presence of his family, after the removal of the scepter, the golden orb and the imperial crown. Lowered Memorial Chapel.
There, alongside her husband Philip, who died last year, and their parents, the Queen, who was Britain’s head of state for more than seventy years and an icon of her country, reached the end of her journey after of all the long, turbulent years of her time. And after eleven days of mourning and funerals of a very unusual kind.