RSS Feed
September 19th, 2022 
Awake Goy The late Queen Elizabeth II was borne on the 120-year-old state gun carriage from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, drawn by a team of Royal Navy Sailors, for the state funeral before final interment in Windsor.
The processions follows a tradition created in 1901 at the state funeral of Queen Victoria, when the teams of army horses pulling the ceremonial gun carriage — fitted with a special catafalque platform above the barrel of the gun to carry a coffin — were spooked during the procession and threatened to throw the carriage over. A team of Royal Navy sailors rushed to fill the gap and pulled the Queen by hand, an act which has been repeated at all state funerals since.
The late Queen Elizabeth II had lain in state at Westminster Hall for nearly five days while hundreds of thousands filed past in silent reflection to give thanks. This morning, the Queen’s coffin was moved by that state gun carriage the short distance — just a few hundred yards — from Westminster Palace to Westminster Abbey, the great Norman church where she was crowned Queen 70 years ago.
Update 1415: State hearse driving to Windsor Castle where thousands of well-wishers wait
The Queen is now on her final journey, the roughly 21 mile route from Hyde Park in London to Windsor Castle for her internment in the Royal Crypt. Thousands are lining the route and thousands more still are at Windsor to watch the arrival of the cortege. While there will be a final ceremony at the castle, the actual internment will be away from the public eye, a private moment attended by the Royal Family.
The royal family watch as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II prepares to depart from near Wellington Arch, on its way to Windsor, in London, UK Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
King Charles III drives past Wellington Arch during the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
WINDSOR, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Members of the public line the Long Walk on September 19, 2022 in Windsor, England. The committal service at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, took place following the state funeral at Westminster Abbey. A private burial in The King George VI Memorial Chapel followed. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Update 1345: The Queen is aboard the State Hearse
The great funeral cortege of the Queen worked its way through central London to the corner of Hyde Park, where the coffin was transferred from the hand-pulled gun carriage to a Jaguar hearse for the rest of the journey to Windsor. Pictures of that soon, but for now more images from the procession today:
Prince George of Wales and Princess Charlotte of Wales depart the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
Royal Navy Sailors walk ahead and behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II with the Imperial State Crown resting on top (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Queen’s funeral cortege borne on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy travels along The Mall (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Update 1310: Queen on the Mall for the final time
The Queen’s funeral cortege borne on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy travels along The Mall (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Update 1300: Queen carried through central London on state gun carriage
A great funeral cortege is proceeding through central London, with the Queen proceeded and flanked by thousands of sailors, soldiers, airmen, and other service people not just from the United Kingdom but from all over the Commonwealth Realms. Particularly noticeable among them are the mounted, red coated Royal Canadian Mounted Police — ‘the Mounties’ — the Gurkhas, and slouch-hatted troops from Australia and New Zealand.
Having left Westminster Abbey, the procession has marched down Whitehall past the Cenotaph War Memorial, through Horse Guards Parade, then up the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Passing the Palace, the procession will continue to march to Hyde Park Corner at the Wellington Arch where the Queen’s coffin will be placed into a hearse for the journey to Windsor.
Royal Navy Sailors walk ahead and behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard, as it travels on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch in London (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Horse Guards Parade after the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Coldstream Guards march ahead of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by ANTHONY DEVLIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images)
(Photo by ALKIS KONSTANTINIDIS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Update 1200: Funeral ending
The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is concluding with an incredibly rousing delivery of the British national anthem, God Save the King, before the late Queen is carried out for her final journey to Windsor Castle. The funeral itself has seen several readings, including from faith leaders from the four home nations and from Prime Minister Liz Truss.
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss delivers a reading during The State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
(Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Beatrix of The Netherlands and King Willem-Alexander of The Netherlands arrive at Westminster Abbey (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby gives a reading at the State Funeral Service (Photo by BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Norway’s King Harald V (C), and his wife Queen Sonja, Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II (L) arrive at Westminster Abbey (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Gareth Fuller – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
(From L) Britain’s Prince George of Wales, Britain’s Katharine, Duchess of Kent, Britain’s Princess Charlotte of Wales and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex attend the state funeral and burial of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, at Westminster Abbey in London, Britain, September 19, 2022. (Photo by PHIL NOBLE / POOL / AFP) (Photo by PHIL NOBLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Update 1120: Funeral Underway
The Queen’s coffin has arrived at Westminster Abbey and the service is underway, with the singing of hymns and reading of lessons.
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II with the Imperial State Crown resting on top is carried by the Bearer Party into Westminster Abbey during the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
King Charles III, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Peter Phillips arrive at Westminster Abbey for the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II with the Imperial State Crown resting on top, borne on the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy proceeds towards Westminster Abbey (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
A Bearer Party of The Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards places the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard, onto the State Gun Carriage of the Royal Navy outside Westminster Hall (Photo by NARIMAN EL-MOFTY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Read the original story below
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is placed on a gun carriage ahead of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey (Photo by Emilio Morenatti – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
U.S. President Joe Biden takes his seat with other heads of state and dignitaries at the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, held at Westminster Abbey, on September 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
Escorted by parties of British Army Guards, men of the Gentlemen at Arms, and the Royal Company of Archers, the coffin was piped through Westminster by bagpipers and followed by senior Royals on foot, including the new King. 142 Royal Navy sailors are in the gun carriage team, with two-thirds of the party in front to pull, and the remaining third behind as a breaking party, to slow or stop the carriage as required.
The Queen was carried into Westminster Abbey by pallbearers drawn from Guards regiments, where a one-hour funeral service will take place. Said to be the greatest concentration of world leaders ever, some 2,000 people are in attendance inside the Abbey. After the state funeral is complete, the Queen will be borne on the gun carriage once again through central London to Wellington Arch, where the coffin will be transferred to a hearse for transport to Windsor Castle.
There will be a final public ceremony at the castle, before the Queen’s mortal remains are interred alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the Royal Crypt.
WINDSOR, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 19: Members of the public ahead of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
Posted in 
Tags: 
