Desk Report
Publish: 15 Sep 2022, 12:53 pm
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II || Photo: Collected
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for
the last time Wednesday, borne on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons
and the tolling of Big Ben, in a solemn procession through the flag-draped,
crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Hall. There, a steady stream of
mourners paid their respects to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
As the cortege left the palace, her son, King Charles III,
and his siblings and sons marched behind the coffin, which was topped by a
wreath of white roses and her crown resting on a purple velvet pillow.
The military procession underscored Elizabeth’s seven decades
as head of state as the national mourning process shifted to the grand
boulevards and historic landmarks of the U.K. capital.
At 900-year-old Westminster Hall, where the queen will lie
in state until her funeral Monday, crowds shuffled past her coffin well into
the night. They moved silently down the steps of the hall under a great stained
glass window, then past the coffin that was covered with the Royal Standard and
had been placed on a raised platform known as a catafalque by eight
pallbearers.
There were couples and parents with children, veterans with
medals clinking on navy blue blazers, lawmakers and members of the House of
Lords. Some wore black or suits and ties, others jeans and sneakers, and all
had waited hours to stand in front of the coffin for a few moments
Many bowed or curtseyed and some were in tears.
Thousands who had waited for the procession for hours along
The Mall outside the palace and other locations along the route held up phones
and cameras, and some wiped away tears, as the casket rolled by. Applause broke
out as it passed through Horse Guards Parade. Thousands more in nearby Hyde
Park watched on large screens.
The coffin was topped with the Imperial State Crown —
encrusted with almost 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and plants,
including pine from the Balmoral Estate, where Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at the
age of 96.
Two officers and 32 troops from the 1st Battalion Grenadier
Guards in red uniforms and bearskin hats walked on either side of the gun
carriage. The 38-minute procession ended at Westminster Hall, where Archbishop
of Canterbury Justin Welby led a service attended by Charles and other royals.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe
also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would
have told you,” Welby read from the Book of John.
After a short service, the captain of The Queen’s Company
1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, assisted by a senior sergeant, laid the royal
standard of the regiment on the steps of the catafalque.
Four officers from the Household Cavalry -– two from the
Life Guards and two from the Blues Royals -– began the vigil, taking their
places at each corner and bowing their heads.
Thousands had queued up along the banks of the River Thames,
waiting to enter the hall and pay their respects to the only monarch most
Britons have ever known after her 70 years on the throne.
Esther Ravenor, a Kenyan who lives in the U.K. said she was
humbled as she watched the procession.
“I love the queen, I love the royal family, and you know, I
had to be here,” she said. “She is a true role model. She loved us all, all of
us. Especially someone like me, a migrant woman coming to the U.K. 30 years
ago, I was allowed to be here and to be free and safe, so I really honor her. She
was a big part of my life.”
Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, of the Household division, who
organized the ceremonial aspects of the queen’s funeral, said it was “our last
opportunity to do our duty for the queen, and it’s our first opportunity to do
it for the king, and that makes us all very proud.”
Troops involved in the procession had been preparing since
the queen died. So had the horses of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
Sgt. Tom Jenks said the horses were specially trained,
including how to handle weeping mourners, as well as flowers and flags being
tossed in front of the procession.
Heathrow Airport temporarily halted flights, saying it would
“ensure silence over central London as the ceremonial procession moves from
Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.”
President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday with Charles to offer
his condolences, the White House said.
Biden recalled “the Queen’s kindness and hospitality” she
hosted them and the first lady at Windsor Castle in June, the statement said.
“He also conveyed the great admiration of the American people for the Queen,
whose dignity and constancy deepened the enduring friendship and special
relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Crowds have lined the route of the queen’s coffin whenever
it has been moved in its long journey from Scotland to London.
On Tuesday night, thousands braved a typical London drizzle
as the hearse, with interior lights illuminating the casket, drove slowly from
an air base to Buckingham Palace.
Earlier, in Edinburgh, about 33,000 people filed silently
past her coffin in 24 hours at St. Giles’ Cathedral.
The line of people snaking along the banks of the River
Thames to enter Westminster Hall, the oldest building in Parliament, was nearly
3 miles long in the afternoon, according to a government tracker.
The hall is where Guy Fawkes and Charles I were tried, where
kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets, and where ceremonial
addresses were presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her silver, golden and
diamond jubilees.
Chris Bond, from Truro in southwest England, was among those
waiting to see the queen’s coffin. He also attended the lying in state of the
queen’s mother in 2002.
“Obviously, it’s quite difficult queuing all day long, but
when you walk through those doors into Westminster Hall, that marvelous,
historic building, there was a great sense of hush and one was told you take as
much time as you like, and it’s just amazing,” he said.
“We know the queen was a good age and she served the country
a long time, but we hoped this day would never come,” he added.
Chris Imafidon, secured the sixth place in the queue.
“I have 1,001 emotions when I see her,” he said. “I want to
say, God, she was an angel, because she touched many good people and did so
many good things.”
Subscribe Shampratik Deshkal Youtube Channel
© 2024 Shampratik Deshkal All Rights Reserved. Design & Developed By Root Soft Bangladesh