Queen Elizabeth II's funeral details: When is it? Will it be on TV? Your questions, answered
Given the hours and reams of media coverage of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in recent days, it's almost surprising to learn that her funeral on Monday is still a mystery to millions in the USA.
Nevertheless, the gods of Google insist multiple questions are trending about the funeral. We shall endeavor to answer some:
When is Queen Elizabeth II's funeral?
The funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey, the 753-year-old church where royals have traditionally been married, mourned and buried, on Monday starting at 11 a.m. British local time, or 6 a.m. ET.
Queen Elizabeth II funeral live updates::News from the queen's funeral as it unfolds
About 15 minutes before the service starts, the queen's Royal Standard-draped coffin topped with the Orb and the Scepter will be moved by the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy (the same carriage that carried the coffin of her father, King George VI) from Westminster Hall, where it has been lying in state since Wednesday night, to Westminster Abbey.
That procession, led by King Charles III and his siblings, will look very much like the procession to take the coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday, but shorter. The royals will be accompanied by ranks of uniformed troops, senior palace officials and even the queen's pages as hundreds of thousands of mourners line the streets of central London to pay respects.
In the abbey, about 2,000 guests will be waiting for the start of a service that will last about an hour.
More:Your visual guide to Queen Elizabeth II's carefully planned funeral events, through Sept. 19
Speaking at a news briefing Thursday, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Duke of Norfolk who holds the hereditary title Earl Marshal responsible for organizing state occasions such as this, said the funeral will reflect the "unique and timeless position" the queen held in the lives of millions, and the sense of loss shared around the world.
"It is our aim and belief that the state funeral and events of the next few days will unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths, whilst fulfilling Her Majesty and her family’s wishes to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign," the duke told reporters.
What kind of funeral will Queen Elizabeth II get?
It will be the grandest the British can muster, a state funeral, usually reserved only for monarchs or special figures such as former Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Hers will be the first state funeral in the United Kingdom since Churchill's in 1965.
A state funeral is organized and paid for by the state and combines the ceremonies and rituals for the sovereign with those of any family's funeral for a loved one. A royal family is mourning; they just have to do it in public.
"Ceremonial" funerals, in the British parlance, are reserved for royals who are not sovereigns, such as the queen's husband, Prince Philip, or her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother,.
A special ceremonial funeral, which remains unforgettable, was mounted quickly in 1997 for Princess Diana, who was no longer a member of the royal family when she died in a car crash in Paris. But she is still the mother and grandmother of expected future sovereigns, Prince William, the new Prince of Wales, and his son, Prince George, 9.
More:Survival of the Monarchy: Why Queen Elizabeth II's funeral is more than just ceremony
Where is Queen Elizabeth II going to be buried?
She will be buried at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where many of her ancestors are buried, including her parents, King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother.
When the funeral service at the abbey is over, the queen's coffin will be carried in another procession to the Wellington Arch along Whitehall, The Mall and past Buckingham Palace.
At the Arch, the coffin will be transferred to the Royal Hearse, which will drive the 25 miles west of London to Windsor Castle and St. George's Chapel. The latter is a mini-cathedral that seats 800 and is often used for royal weddings. It's where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were married in 2018.
At Windsor, the state hearse will travel in procession to St. George’s Chapel via the Long Walk. Once inside, there will be a committal service beginning at 4 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. ET.
Besides the family, the congregation will be made up of past and present members of the queen's household, including from the private estates. Governors general and prime ministers of the realms also will be there.
Before the final hymn is sung, the State Imperial Crown, the Orb and Scepter will be removed from the top of the coffin and placed on the altar. As the coffin is lowered into the royal vault, the dean of Windsor will say a psalm, the garter king of arms will list the queen's many styles and titles, the sovereign’s piper will play a lament, and the archbishop of Canterbury will give a blessing. The national anthem will conclude the service.
The queen will be buried in a special chapel beneath the floor of St. George's with her parents, sister Princess Margaret, and husband, Philip. This ceremony will be private.
Will Queen Elizabeth II's funeral be televised?
You won't be able to escape the coverage. All of the networks in the United Kingdom, and the United States, will be broadcasting it live from early hours Monday.
It is expected to be the most watched broadcast ever, with an estimated 4 billion turned in.
As an example, Anglophilic PBS in the U.S. will offer BBC’s live uninterrupted coverage starting at 4 a.m. to noon ET (check local listings) on PBS, PBS.org and the PBS Video app.
All of the major U.S. networks rushed teams to London in the hours after the queen's death and have been talking nonstop ever since, following plans years in preparation, rather like the queen's funeral plans.
The locals were even more prepared: The U.K broadcaster ITV fielded multiple trucks, camera rigs, crews and reporters at key locations in London and Windsor, including a prebuilt studio with lighting and furniture in Windsor, according to Variety.
Who is Queen Elizabeth II's successor?
Charles, her eldest son and the former prince of Wales. At 73 and after decades as the king-in-waiting, he is now the sovereign and leading his family and the nation in the mourning for "my beloved mother."
What religion was Queen Elizabeth II?
Church of England, founded (originally) by Henry VIII in the 1530s. The funeral rites will be based on the Order of the Burial of the Dead from the Book of Common Prayer.
By law and custom, the sovereign is the supreme governor of the Church of England, aka the Anglican Church (or the Episcopal Church as it is known in the USA). The queen was an authentically devout member all her life.
The law says the sovereign and his or her spouse must be Protestants, never Roman Catholics, under the general theory that you can't profess to follow one religion while serving as the head for another, even though there are few major differences between the two churches.
And it should be noted that the spiritual spaces where the queen's funeral will take place, including the abbey and the chapels, were built by the Catholic Church for Catholics hundreds of years ago.
When did Queen Elizabeth II's husband die?
Philip died April 9, 2021, at age 99, at Windsor Castle after weeks in two hospitals.
Born a prince of Greece and Denmark, and exiled with his family soon after his birth, the duke and the queen were married for 73 years, and she described him as her "strength and stay."
His biographers and British historians described him as crucial to his wife's success as the sovereign for 70 years, the longest in British or English history since 1066.
His funeral, at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, was much reduced – only 30 mourners in total – because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But it was designed by the no-fuss Philip to be as unfussy as possible anyway.
Among the most memorable features: His hearse was a customized Land Rover he designed himself. It carried his coffin, adorned with his naval cap, sword, a flag representing his Greek and Danish heritage, and a spray of flowers chosen by the queen, from the castle to the church.
How much was Queen Elizabeth II worth?
No one knows for sure; her private worth was ... private. Forbes magazine recently put it at $500 million, but it's a guess at best. It's safe to say she wasn't hurting.
In any case, all of her private estate was inherited by Charles upon her death, including her jewelry (but not the Crown Jewels, which belong to the state) and privately owned Balmoral Castle in Scotland and Sandringham in Norfolk (but not Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle and similar state-owned residences).
Though the queen's land holdings were rich and vast, her jewelry was just as breathtaking, and this was down in part to her grandmother, Queen Mary, consort to George V. She collected lavish baubles all her long life, and when she died in 1953, she left most of it to her granddaughter the queen.
When did Queen Elizabeth II become queen?
On Feb. 6, 1952, when she and Philip were on a holiday in Kenya before setting off on a world tour. She was just 25 and didn't immediately know she was queen at the time.
Back in England, her father, King George VI, who looked ill when waving them off on their trip, died in his sleep at Sandringham, after a day of shooting on the 20,000-acre Norfolk estate. He was 56. (He had come to the throne unexpectedly in December 1936 after his brother, Edward VIII, abdicated in a huff because he wasn't allowed to marry a twice-divorced American, Wallis Simpson.)
George had been suffering from lung cancer, although his doctors didn't tell him, his family, the government or the public, which made his death even more of a shock. He had just undergone what was then described as successful surgery to remove most of his left lung.
In the era before mass communications, it took some time for the news to reach Kenya, where Elizabeth had been enjoying watching and filming the wildlife from Treetops, a treetop lodge hotel. Her husband broke the news to her. The loss left them devastated but calm.
As many said later, she went up a tree a princess and came down a queen.
She immediately made plans to return to London, began writing letters to her hosts on the now-canceled world tour, and told an aide who asked what she intended to use as her regnal, or reign, name.
"My own name, of course." Thus: Elizabeth.
