The Royal Family and hundreds of international dignitaries bid an emotional farewell to Elizabeth II at a historic funeral at Westminster Abbey
A majestic state funeral fired Queen Elizabeth II this afternoon at Westminster Abbey. It was the last ceremony of the eternal monarch: solemn, spiritual, surrounded by grandeur and above all, by the respect of leaders from all over the planet. Some 2,000 guests, including 50 heads of state, royalty and other dignitaries, accompanied the royal family at the funeral. The coffin left the temple at around 4 past one (Spanish time) for private burials. The pain and reverence in the abbey is reflected in the streets of London, crowded like never before by thousands of citizens who want to pay their last respects to the sovereign.
That “flood of love” was highlighted in his elegy by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who emphasized that the sympathy shown towards Elizabeth II these days is due to “her abundant life and her loving service.” In his homily, after ten days of funeral rites, Welby focused on the intense Christian devotion of the late monarch, who will be buried this afternoon in Windsor Castle.
The coffin, covered by the royal standard and bearing the imperial crown, has traveled the short distance between parliament and the abbey on the armored car that was carrying all the remains of his father, George VI, and leaders such as Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The catafalque is guarded by 142 members of the Royal Navy, soldiers of three regiments and the pipers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The royal bagpiper was also responsible for closing the funeral by singing the lament ‘Sleep, baby, sleep’ after the entire abbey observed two minutes of silence. Behind it, he was accompanied on foot by part of the royal family in a procession led by King Carlos III and Prince William. Other members of the family waited at the abbey gate. All have entered the temple in the midst of a moving silence.
Representatives of other Christian faiths and churches were invited to the Anglican ceremony. religious leaders, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland of Asthal; and the Prime Minister, Elizabeth Truss, read lyrics, combined with organ music and the singing of the choirs of Westminster Abbey and the Royal Chapel of Saint James’s Palace.
“It is with gratitude that we remember her steadfast devotion to her calling for so many years as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth,” read the Dean of the Abbey, David Hoyle, at the start of the ceremony. “We remember with admiration his devotion to duty throughout his life and his devotion to his people. We thank God for his constant example of devotion to the Christian faith. We also remember with fondness his love for his family and his dedication to the causes he held dear.”
The 2,000 guests also included representatives of the armed forces and charities, the living former prime ministers of the United Kingdom and other politicians and personalities, members of the Royal Household, some sixty relatives of the Queen, as well as her children and grandchildren. Two great-grandchildren, Jorge and Carlota, children of the Princes of Wales, also attended the funeral.
It is historically the end of the second Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I, of the royal house of Tudor, was the great English queen before her namesake of the house of Windsor broke records for longevity on the throne. That Elizabeth is buried in Westminster Abbey, which she helped build. He is next to his sister, María, who was the wife of Felipe, heir to the Spanish imperial crown.
He acceded to the throne in 1559 when he was 25 years old and died 44 years later. The rituals before his death lasted more than a month, as the heir, James, had to travel from Scotland. He fortified England after the defeat of the Great and Happy Spanish Armada and encouraged the expeditions that would create the first colonies in the Americas. It was the embryo of a British Empire that was dismantled during the reign of the second monarch Elizabeth.
Source: La Verdad
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