Everything You Need to Know About Queen Elizabeth II’s Funeral

What to expect from the sovereign’s elaborate send-off and how to watch from afar.

Sep 13, 2022

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Hello, friends. My heart is heavy right now. The death of Queen Elizabeth II last week was expected but also sudden. We had just seen her on Tuesday, greeting her 15th prime minister, looking lovely in a cardigan, pearls, and pink lipstick. The photographer who captured the moment described her as “frail” but “in good spirits.”

Queen Elizabeth II waits to meet her 15th prime minister last week at Balmoral Castle. (Photo by Jane Barlow /WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Two days later, the Queen was gone.

Almost immediately I began writing a story for the Cut, reflecting on the sovereign’s presence as a queen: “The conversation around the royal family, as well as its problematic past and uncertain future, changes markedly when a man enters the equation. What has made the monarchy so fascinating to follow under Elizabeth II was the fact it was a queen at the helm, a woman undertaking the complicated and sometimes competing roles of head of state and family matriarch.” You can read the piece here. (And about that last line of the story, my three-year-old daughter keeps saying, “The dad is the queen now.” I won’t correct her!)

Below you will find a look at what to expect from now through the Queen’s funeral on Monday. If you are looking for more on the life of the late monarch, the BBC has managed to fit a lot into eight, 15-minute episodes for its The Queen Remembered podcast. For a long read, I would recommend Sally Bedell Smith’s definitive 2012 biography, Elizabeth the Queen. From there, Town & Country has a list of royal books to consider.

I would love to hear your memories of seeing or meeting the Queen, or if you are attending a memorial for her this week. Please send me an email with your thoughts and pictures Hello@SoManyThoughts.

Everything You Need to Know About the Queen’s Funeral

The Queen’s coffin at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo via i-Images/Polaris)

First things first: How can we watch?

The Queen’s funeral will be broadcast live by the BBC, Sky News, and ITV in the UK. In the US, CNN has been providing extensive coverage. I would expect the major broadcast networks, including ABC, CBS, and NBC, will cover it, although it is unclear if they will carry the service in its entirety.

The funeral will also be live-streamed on the web; here are some YouTube links to bookmark: Sky News (a great live feed), the BBC (live bits as well as a lot excellent highlight clips), and the Royal Family official channel (official programming).

You can also tune into the British coverage via a VPN. (I have Express VPN, which offers a 30-day free trial.) Choose the United Kingdom as your location, open a new browser, and stream the latest from London.

The Queen’s coffin arrived at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening. (Photo by Jeremy Selwyn - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

What happens between now and the funeral?

Her Majesty’s coffin made its way to London today from Scotland, accompanied on an RAF flight by Princess Anne. It traveled through rainy London in a lit-up hearse the Queen helped design and was welcomed privately to Buckingham Palace by the King, the Queen Consort, along with her other children, grandchildren, and their spouses. Also present were the Queen’s niece and nephew, Lady Sarah Chatto and Earl of Snowdon. Her coffin will spend the night in the Bow Room, which overlooks the gardens.

There are two big days coming up this week: Wednesday’s procession through London and Monday’s procession, funeral, as well as the subsequent trip to, and events in, Windsor. In between, the Queen’s coffin will lie in state at Westminster. A closer look at what to expect each day:

Wednesday, September 14

The first of two processionals of the Queen’s coffin through London will take place Wednesday afternoon, leaving Buckingham Palace at 2:22pm local time (9:22pm ET / 6:22am PT) and traveling to Westminster Hall to lie in state. The 38-minute silent procession will pass the Queen’s Gardens, the Mall, Horse Guards, Whitehall, Parliament Street and New Palace Yard. Her coffin will be adorned with the Imperial State Crown and followed by the King and other members of the royal family. Big Ben will toll and guns will be fired at Hyde Park.

At Westminster, the Archbishop of Canterbury will hold a short service for members of the family before the lying-in-state begins at 5pm local time. It will be open around the clock until 6:30am on Monday. (More on the lying-in-state below.)

Thursday, September 15 to Sunday, September 18

The Queen’s lying-in-state will continue through early Monday morning. Other events happening those days include:

A rehearsal of Monday’s state funeral procession on Thursday
A visit to Wales by King Charles and Queen Camilla on Friday; it will be the engagement on the tour of the United Kingdom for the new monarch. Town & Country’s Victoria Murphy has more on the whistle-stop tour.
A one-minute moment of silence across the United Kingdom on behalf of the Queen. It begins at 8pm local time (3pm ET / noon PT).

What can we expect from the lying-in-state?

Known as Operation Marquee, the Queen’s coffin will remain on display for four days to allow mourners from around the globe to pay their respects. More on how it will be displayed, from Gov.UK:

At the Lying-in-State, The Queen’s closed coffin will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, in Westminster Hall and will be draped in the Royal Standard with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top. Each corner of the platform will be guarded around the clock by a vigil of units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division, or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.

Hundreds of thousands are expected attend; more than 200,000 people lined up for the Queen Mother in 2002, according to the BBC, which has a guide to attending Queen Elizabeth’s lying-in-state here. It warns of “airport-style security and tight restrictions,” as well as a “wait for hours, or even overnight.”

The viewing will be open around the clock, reports the Telegraph, “to accommodate the substantial number of people who are expected to make the journey to central London.”

When is the Queen’s state funeral?

The Queen’s state funeral will take place on Monday, September 19. It has been made a bank holiday in the United Kingdom, which means schools and businesses will be closed. The service will begin at 11am local time (6am ET / 3am PT) and last until 12:15pm.

There will be a processional beforehand, beginning at 10:44am local time (5:44am ET / 2:44am PT). Her Majesty’s coffin will travel from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey. Navy officials will use ropes to pull the Queen’s coffin on a gun carriage, according to People magazine. The King and other members of the royal family will follow.

Who is attending the funeral?

Her Majesty is the first monarch to have a funeral in Westminster Abbey since George II in 1760; the move was made to accommodate as many guests as possible. (Westminster Abbey can hold a crowd of around 2,200). Funerals for Princess Diana and the Queen Mother were also held at Westminster.

In addition to the extended British Royal Family, Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be attended by heads of state, presidents, prime ministers, members of other royal families and representatives from the charities and causes the Queen championed are expected to attend.

The guest list is so tight that reports President Joe Biden would lead a US delegation from the United States were quickly walked back on Monday. He will attend with only First Lady Jill Biden. “Since the invitation from the palace was for President Biden and Jill Biden, former US presidents would be able to attend only if they got their own invitations,” reports USA Today. “Former President Jimmy Carter did not get an invitation, his office said. Spokespeople for Obama, Trump, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton did not comment.”

The Times has a list of other confirmed guests so far, including the prime ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, along with the presidents of Brazil, Germany, Italy, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey. The paper also said Vladamir Putin will not attend; he has already sent his condolences.

As for other royalty, we can expect to see Japan’s Emperor Naruhito, Monaco’s Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, and Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.

Politico broke the news Monday that all guests have been “asked to arrive in the U.K. on commercial flights and banned from using helicopters to get around.” What’s more, they are supposed to leave their cars in a designated area and arrive at Westminster together on a bus.

The Queen with her great-grandson and heir, Prince George, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for her Platinum Jubilee in June. (Photo via Getty Images)

Will any of the Queen’s great grandchildren be at the funeral, including the Cambridge children?

Nothing has been confirmed. However, at Prince Philip’s memorial service earlier this year, five of the Queen’s oldest great grandchildren attended: Prince George and Princess Charlotte, along with Anne’s eldest grandchildren: Mia Tindall and Savannah and Isla Phillips. My best guess is those are the most likely little ones to join the service on Monday.

What do we know about what will take place at the funeral?

The funeral plans have been kept mighty quiet. But one thing we do know is that the Queen herself had a hand in it all, and plans have been in place for “decades,” according to the Telegraph:

“The monarch played an active role in the preparations for her funeral. The plans, which have been in place for decades and approved by the new King, are expected to be confirmed in the coming days, with services and processions to display the full pomp and ceremony Britain can muster.”

It is the first funeral of a monarch to be televised. Although the procession of King George VI’s funeral was broadcast in 1952, “cameras were excluded from the service itself,” according to the CBC.

What happens after the funeral?

The Queen’s coffin will travel from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch and then onto Windsor via a state hearse. It will be taken along the Long Walk to St. George’s Chapel for a committal service with the royal family, which will also be televised.

The day will conclude with a small, private interment ceremony for the family in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. Her mother and father are buried there, along with her sister’s ashes; the coffin of her late husband, Prince Philip, who died in 2021 at the age of 99 will be transferred there, too.

“The coffin is made of English oak and lined with lead, which is a traditional design choice for members of the Royal Family,” according to iNews. “Using lead prevents air and moisture from building up, aiding preservation. Experts say airtight coffins are particularly important when they are laid to rest above ground.”

A rainbow spotted outside of Windsor Castle on Sept. 8, the day Queen Elizabeth II died. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

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