The event will come at the end of an official 10-day mourning period following the death of Queen Elizabeth aged 96 on Thursday. It will be held at 11am in Westminster Abbey. Her son Charles was officially proclaimed king on Saturday and ordered the day of his mother’s funeral to be a public holiday. King Charles III confirmed the holiday during his first meeting of the privy council at St James’s Palace – the first ever to be televised. The Queen’s funeral will be the first state funeral to be held since that of her first prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill, in 1965. Although her father, George VI, chose St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for his service, his daughter’s body will be taken to Westminster Abbey, where she was married and crowned, and then to Windsor for burial in the royal treasury. Before the Queen’s funeral, she will lie in state at Westminster Hall for four days to allow the public to pay their respects. The Queen’s coffin now lies in the ballroom at Balmoral Castle and will be taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Sunday. On Monday, a procession of the king and members of the royal family will form as the coffin is carried to the city’s St Giles Cathedral. It will remain there until Tuesday so people in Scotland can pay their respects. Queen Elizabeth II in her own words – video obituary On Tuesday evening, the coffin – accompanied by Princess Anne – will be flown from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt and then taken to Buckingham Palace. On Wednesday afternoon it will be moved to Westminster Hall, where it will lie in state until the morning of the state funeral. Members of the public will have the opportunity to visit Westminster Hall to pay their respects to the Queen.
