The day has come when Queen Elizabeth II will be laid to rest alongside her beloved Prince Philip.
Following a full state funeral at Westminster Abbey at 11am, Her Majesty will be buried alongside her “strength and stay”, the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Close family members will attend this private burial service in the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor at 7.30pm tonight, marking the end of a ten-day national period of mourning.
Over the past four days, hundreds of thousands of people waited patiently for up to 24 hours in a queue stretching over five miles for the chance to file past the monarch’s coffin as it lay in state at Westminster Hall.
Last night Joe Biden, the US president, was among foreign dignitaries who paid their respects to the former head of state before attending a reception at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the King.
Today, over a million mourners are expected to gather in central London to bid a final farewell to the Queen, who celebrated 70 years on the throne this year.
NHS doctors and nurses will be given the honor of walking in front of her coffin in what Buckingham Palace described as a “fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign”.
Planned in line with the late Queen’s wishes, the state funeral will see members of the public join royalty, heads of state, and the might of the military for an event that the Palace hopes will “unite people across the globe”.
The series of processions and three services will see the late Queen commemorated as “head of state, head of nation and head of family” before, finally, she is buried in a private ceremony alongside her beloved Prince Philip.
Last night the King issued a message of thanks to the nation, “as we all prepare to say our last farewell” to the late Queen.
He offered his gratitude to “all those countless people who have been such a support and comfort to my family and myself in this time of grief”.
The King said he and the Queen Consort were “deeply touched” by the many messages they had received from around the world, and “moved beyond measure” by those who turned out to pay their respects throughout the UK to “my dear mother”.