The Queen’s funeral ceremony will be held on Monday 19 September 2022. This day will be a public holiday in the UK.
Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday 8 September 2022 in Balmoral Castle, Scotland. The day will begin at 10am when Big Ben will ring its bell hammer muffled with a leather cushion, and then the Queen’s funeral procession will arrive at Westminster Abbey at noon. There will be a minute’s silence across the country as she enters the Abbey.
The event takes place at Westminster Abbey, not St George’s Chapel in Windsor, as has been the custom for over 300 years. Elizabeth II will be the first British monarch to have her funeral there since 1760.
The decision to move the funeral is said to have been taken by the Queen herself, who considered London Abbey a more appropriate venue, being larger and in a more public setting. It is usually the venue for coronations and weddings of the royal family.
Several leaders and politicians have already announced their attendance at the Queen’s funeral.
US President Joe Biden was the first head of state to announce on Friday that he would be attending the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. “I don’t know the details yet, but I will go,” he told reporters who asked him about his presence at the ceremony.
On a trip to Outarville (Centre-Val de Loire) on Friday, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, said he would attend the ceremony.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is also expected to attend.
Japan’s Emperor Naruhito is expected to attend the funeral, local media said on Saturday. This would be an unusual gesture, said the Mainichi Shimbun daily, pointing out that the emperor does not usually attend funerals outside his own country.
Prince Albert II of Monaco paid tribute on Friday to Elizabeth II – “a great lady” who had “the intelligence of important people” – and also announced that he would attend her funeral with his wife Charlene.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend, the Kremlin spokesman said on Friday. “The option is not being considered,” he told reporters, even though he has been a pariah in the West since the invasion of Ukraine.
