State funeral for Queen Elizabeth II kicks off at 11 am today

State funeral for Queen Elizabeth II kicks off at 11 am today

Monday, September 19, 2022 9:19 am


King Charles attends a Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth II at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, September 12, 2022. Jane Barlow/Pool via REUTERS

King Charles by Queen Elizabeth II coffin. REUTERS

There will be a full state funeral for Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey today, 19 September at 11. am. That is when the four-day official lying-in-state period that attracted thousands of people filing past her casket at London’s historic Westminster Hall, will end.

The funeral proper will start at 3.30 pm, Greenwich Meridian Time today. Prince William and his wife Catherine’s nine-year-old son Prince George and seven-year-old daughter, Princess Charlotte will, according to indianexpress.com, attend Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral. Their four-year-old brother Prince Louis is not expected to be in attendance. Prince George, who is now second in line to the throne, and his sister will walk through Westminster Abbey with the royal family in procession behind the queen’s coffin. They will be followed by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and other royal family members.

The day of the Queen’s funeral marks the climax of what is being regarded as the biggest security operation the UK has ever seen, Daily Mail reported.

Huge crowds, royalty and a long list of world leaders as well as other dignitaries will all, according to the report, need to be kept safe as part of the mammoth job facing thousands of police officers.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said ‘nothing can compare’ to the ‘hugely complex’ task, describing it as the ‘largest policing operation’ in the Met’s history.

The scale surpasses the operation for the Platinum Jubilee weekend and the London 2012 Olympics, which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day.

It is also the largest global protection operation dealt with by the force, with world leaders, dignitaries and other VIPs attending the state funeral.

Former counter-terrorism police chief Nick Aldworth said it is ‘probably the biggest operation that we’re likely to mount in the UK’.


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