Moment Queen’s coffin is lowered into St George’s Chapel vault to lie beside Prince Philip

The Queen is tonight going to be laid to rest to be with her beloved Prince Philip after her crown, orb and sceptre were removed from her coffin so she could descend into her grave ‘as a simple Christian soul’.

Her Majesty has returned home to Windsor to be reunited for eternity with her husband, father, mother and sister in the royal crypt at St George’s Chapel as her 70-year reign came to an end this evening.

The Royal Family stood at the end of the short committal service as the Queen was slowly lowered while the Dean of Windsor said: ‘Go forth upon thy journey from this world, O Christian soul.’ He also offered the commendation – a prayer in which the deceased is entrusted to God’s mercy.

Moments earlier the Dean had placed her crown and other crown jewels on the altar before the Lord Chamberlain snapped his staff of office – signifying the severing of the Queen from her public service in death. 

The Garter King of Arms then pronounced the styles and titles of the Queen as all power moved to her son, the King, before the coffin was lowered to the lament of a lone piper and Britain and the world said a tender farewell to the late monarch following 70 years of service to the nation.

Charles looked deeply moved as the Queen’s oak coffin descended to the crypt on a day where he appeared tearful on a number of occasions as he said goodbye to his ‘Mama’, the 12th British monarch to be buried at Windsor.

Her Majesty’s long journey to her final resting place – and to be reunited with the Duke of Edinburgh – began in Balmoral on the day of her death 11 days ago and will end with her private interment next to her ‘strength and stay’ Philip this evening where the King will scatter earth on his mother’s coffin at a private family service.

That private service, which is due to start at 7.30pm, is believed to be taking place at the moment.

Britain’s longest reigning monarch had been carried into the historic church followed by Charles III, her children and grandchildren including Prince Harry and Prince William. St George’s was where the Queen had sat alone during the funeral of Prince Philip last year – in one of the most poignant images of the pandemic – and it was where she had loved to worship for so many years when at Windsor.

It came on a day where up to 2million people crowded into central London to see the coffin after the state funeral at Westminster Abbey attended by 2,000 royals, heads of state and 200 members of the public. Mourners covered the royal hearse in flowers as it travelled to Windsor from Wellington Arch this afternoon after the Queen was carried past Buckingham Palace for a final time. 

This morning the last of the 400,000 people to see the Queen lying in state paid their respects before she was carried on a gun carriage from Westminster Hall to the church where she married and was crowned as an estimated 4billion people watched on TV worldwide.

Members of the Royal Family gradually left St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle following the committal service for the Queen.

The Prince and Princess of Wales left the chapel by car with their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex departed separately shortly after, with Harry puffing his cheeks.

In the moving service the Dean of Windsor, the Rev David Conner, gave a reading from Revelation 21.1-7 during the service. The same passage was read at the funerals of the Queen’s father King George VI in 1952 and her grandparents, King George V in 1936, and Queen Mary in 1953.

The reading ends with: ‘I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

‘He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.’

In a touching gesture the late Queen’s two faithful friends, her corgis Muick and Sandy, were waiting for her when the flower-covered hearse arrived. 

The King, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York, the Earl of Wessex, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Sussex were among those who met the coffin as it arrived at the castle after a procession along Windsor’s packed Long Walk. 

Minute Guns were fired by The King’s Troop to signal the monarch is home as the hearse approached the West Steps of St George’s Chapel. The Castle’s Sebastopol bell rang – something that only happens when a British monarch dies – as the State Hearse ended its journey to the sound of bagpipes.

Tens of thousands of people lined The Long Walk and applauded as the flower-covered hearse carrying the late sovereign’s coffin slowly processed towards her Berkshire castle, where she spent most of her final years before her death – including lockdown with Prince Philip. 

Giving the Bidding, the Dean of Windsor, said: ‘We have come together to commit into the hands of God the soul of his servant Queen Elizabeth.

‘Here, in St George’s Chapel, where she so often worshipped, we are bound to call to mind someone whose uncomplicated yet profound Christian Faith bore so much fruit. Fruit, in a life of unstinting service to the Nation, the Commonwealth and the wider world, but also (and especially to be remembered in this place) in kindness, concern and reassuring care for her family and friends and neighbours.’

Referring to a ‘rapidly changing and frequently troubled world’, the Dean praised the late Queen’s ‘calm and dignified presence’.

He said the monarch’s disposition ‘has given us confidence to face the future, as she did, with courage and with hope’.

Concluding the Bidding, he said: ‘As, with grateful hearts, we reflect on these and all the many other ways in which her long life has been a blessing to us, we pray that God will give us grace to honour her memory by following her example, and that, with our sister Elizabeth, at the last, we shall know the joys of life eternal.’

Thousands of people fell silent, held their phones aloft and waved flags as the Queen’s coffin passed along the Long Walk towards St George’s Chapel.

The crowd was so dense that those at the back could only view the procession through their phones held high on selfie sticks.

Children sat on their parents’ shoulders and some clapped as the procession passed by.

Members of the congregation include the late monarch’s nearest and dearest, her household staff past and present, and foreign royal families.

A wreath from Number 10, signed by Prime Minister Liz Truss, sits close to the door of the chapel, and says: ‘For a lifetime of devotion and duty we offer our deep and sincere gratitude.’

Flowers of all kinds cover the area around the chapel, from bouquets of red roses to pink lilies to potted plants to wreaths from foreign royals.

Inside one of the main entrances to the chapel, a floral arrangement of white blossoms sits in full bloom.

Among the flowers in the chapel were lilies, dahlias, roses, and greenery including Eucalyptus and other greenery picked from Home Park.

The service, with a strong thread of tradition running throughout, was discussed with the Queen over a number of years and all the prayers and hymns were chosen by her – apart from one.

The Queen left one hymn to be chosen at the time, and after a discussion between the King and the Dean of Windsor David Conner, the hymn chosen was Westminster Abbey adapted from the Alleluyas in Purcell’s O God, Thou art my God.

Earlier mourners in Windsor were asked not to throw flowers at the hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin and have instead been told to leave their bouquets by the ‘grass moat’ near Windsor castle. Security officials and event organisers have said that the flowers may spook horses, raise safety concerns, become a tripping hazard and be difficult clean up if they’re pressed into the ground.

After the final public element of her funeral, Her Majesty will be buried with her late husband Prince Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel. A private burial service, attended by the King and other members of the royal family, will take place this evening.

This afternoon the royal family bid farewell to their beloved matriarch in the gothic chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle in a service attended by around 800 people. Silence fell among crowds of mourners as the state hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin turned into the Long Walk in the final stretch of her journey.

The crowds, made up of people of all ages, who flanked the Long Walk, fell quiet as the sound of drummers in the procession grew louder. Children were lifted on adults’ shoulders and camera phones were raised in the air as people struggled to get a glimpse of the scene.

The Queen’s beloved corgis Muick and Sandy and one of her favourite ever horses made a special poignant appearance at Windsor during the procession.

The young dogs – one on a red lead and one on a blue lead – were brought out into the quadrangle by two pages in red tailcoats for the arrival of the Queen’s coffin. Emma, the Queen’s Fell Pony, had greeted the procession, standing on grass in a gap in the floral tributes along the Long Walk in honour of her late owner.

Much of the service will have a feel of looking back, repeating what has gone before, a feeling of coming full circle, with perhaps a sense of the consistency and constancy which the Queen will forever be remembered for.

Prior to the final hymn, the Imperial State Crown, the Orb and the Sceptre will be removed from the coffin by the Crown Jeweller and, with the Bargemaster and Serjeants-at-Arms, will be passed to the Dean who will place them on the altar.

The removal of the crown from the coffin to the altar is poignant, because in 1953 the crown was taken from the altar in Westminster Abbey and placed on the Queen’s head, marking the start of a 70-year reign.

At the end of the final hymn, the King will place The Queen’s Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on the coffin.

At the same time, The Lord Chamberlain will ‘break’ his Wand of Office and place it on the coffin.

This is to create a symmetry with the three Instruments of State that have been removed.

The coffin, which will be placed on a catafalque draped in purple velvet will be slowly lowered down into the royal vault as the Dean of Windsor says: ‘Go forth upon thy journey from this world, O Christian soul.’

The Sovereign’s Piper will play a lament, A Salute to the Royal Fendersmith, from the doorway between the Chapel and the Dean’s Cloister during which he will walk slowly towards the Deanery in the Cloister so that the music inside the Chapel gradually fades.

During the service, the King will sit in the seat which was occupied by the Queen when she came to the chapel, positioned closest to the altar.

Tradition will run through the service in its music as it will feature several pieces that were also heard at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral and other major royal events.

JS Bach’s Schmucke Dich, O Liebe Seele – Adorn Yourself, O Dear Soul – (BWV 654) a piece for organ, will be played with a number of others as the mourners wait for the service to begin.

Another will be Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre, a firm favourite with the royal family with the music being performed at the wedding of Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, and at Philip’s funeral.

Nimrod by Sir Edward Elgar was heard at the Queen’s coronation in 1953 and will also be played before the committal begins.

Lord Sentamu, the former Archbishop of York, was reportedly part of the team which helped devise the original order of service for the Queen’s state funeral.

The cleric told BBC News the Queen knew the psalms by heart and Psalm 121 – also featured at the Queen Mother’s Funeral in 2002 – will be sung at her committal.

The service will end with Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Minor (BWV 546) played after the national anthem, which was also heard at the end of Philip’s funeral.

Prayers will be said by the Rector of Sandringham, the Minister of Crathie Kirk and the Chaplain of Windsor Great Park, and by the Dean of Windsor.

The Choir of St George’s Chapel – made up of 11 men, one woman and 13 boys – will sing during the service and will be conducted by James Vivian, director of music, and the organ will be played by Luke Bond, assistant director of music.

Much of the music at the service has been composed by Sir William Harris, who served as the organist at St George’s Chapel between 1933 and 1961, taking in much of the Queen’s childhood.

The young Princess Elizabeth would often visit the organ loft to watch Sir William play, and it is believed he taught her to play the piano.

Crowds threw roses in front of the Queen’s coffin and cheered her for the last time today as she was returned to Windsor Castle to be reunited with her beloved Prince Philip and her parents in the medieval splendour of St George’s Chapel. 

In extraordinary and moving scenes, an estimated 2million well-wishers lined the streets to say farewell to Britain’s longest reigning monarch, Elizabeth II, with showers of bouquets greeting her hearse as it drove from West London to Berkshire. 

King Charles had appeared tearful at his mother’s Westminster Abbey state funeral that ended with two minutes of silence, the Last Post and the national anthem. The monarch also looked emotional as he saluted when his mother left Wellington Arch in a hearse this afternoon.

On a day of pomp and poignant symbolism, grief was etched on the faces of Charles, his siblings and children as well as the huge crowds who swamped The Mall, Whitehall and Parliament Square to bade farewell to the beloved monarch as her coffin was carried from the Abbey on a gun carriage.

Members of the Royal Family, including the King, marched poignantly behind, while others including the Princess of Wales, her children George and Charlotte, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, all looked on at the crowds as they passed them in vehicles. 

The poignant scenes followed an extraordinary and emotional state funeral attended by 2,000 VIPs, royals, prime ministers and several hundred ordinary Britons chosen by the Queen, who died 11 days ago. The Archbishop of Canterbury described the Queen as having touched ‘a multitude of lives’ and having been a ‘joyful’ figure for many.

She was head of state but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and in a personal touch, the wreath adorning her coffin had a handwritten note from the King. The message said: ‘In loving and devoted memory.’

After the funeral the coffin was borne on a gun carriage in a spectacle not seen for many generations, as hundreds of soldiers, sailors and airmen marched to solemn funeral pieces or lined the route. Behind her coffin were Charles and his siblings – the Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex – who were followed by the monarch’s three grandsons, Peter Phillips, Duke of Sussex and Prince of Wales.

In a moving gesture, staff from Buckingham Palace stood outside the gates of the royal residence and watched as the late monarch was taken past for the last time.

Members of the Royal Family, including the King, marched poignantly behind, while others including the Princess of Wales and her children George and Charlotte and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, looked on at the crowds as they passed them in vehicles. 

In the shadow of Apsley House, the former home of the Duke of Wellington, the sailors who had drawn the carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin came to a halt. 

Members of the Royal Family watched and saluted as the bearer party lifted the coffin from the State Gun Carriage and loaded it into the back of the vehicle. Much of the procession party lined up in formation on the green next to the monument and stood in silence during the moving of the coffin. The national anthem then played as the hearse moved away. 

And applause and a spontaneous three cheers broke out as the Queen’s coffin passed the Albert Memorial in Kensington on its way to Windsor. As the hearse drove off flowers were thrown into the road by members of the public watching from behind a fence. Others waved Union flags as the fleet of vehicles drove past.

Following the departure of the coffin and the royal family, the bells at Westminster Abbey began to ring out. The muffled peal will continue throughout the afternoon, which only occurs after the funeral of a sovereign.  

And applause and a spontaneous three cheers broke out as the Queen’s coffin passed the Albert Memorial in Kensington in its way to Windsor. As the hearse drove off flowers were thrown into the road by members of the public watching from behind a fence. Others waved Union flags as the fleet of vehicles drove past.

Following the departure of the coffin and the royal family, the bells at Westminster Abbey began to ring out. The muffled peal will continue throughout the afternoon, which only occurs after the funeral of a sovereign.

The royal family watched on in two rows, with the King, the Queen Consort, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl and the Countess of Wessex in the first row.

Behind them were the Princess and the Prince of Wales, with Prince Charlotte and Prince George between them and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The King and the male royals saluted the coffin, except for the Duke of York and the Duke of Sussex, who were not in uniform, while some of the female royals curtseyed.

The Queen’s coffin, followed by the King, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, Duke of York and the Princess Royal, began its procession towards Wellington Arch after it was placed back onto the State Gun Carriage at just after midday. 

Minute Guns were fired in Hyde Park by The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, as Big Ben tolled throughout the duration of the solemn procession through her city.  As the Queen’s funeral procession moved past the Cenotaph in London, the King, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex saluted the memorial to Britain and the Commonwealth soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars. Prince Andrew and Prince Harry did not.

The crowd in Whitehall broke into a chorus of ‘hip, hip, hooray’ and a round of applause as the procession drew past and people began to move on. The Queen was then borne through Horse Guards Parade, where Her Majesty presided over scores of Trooping the Colour ceremonies during her reign.

The Queen then went up The Mall for the last time as the funeral procession continues towards Buckingham Palace. The sombre scene was bathed in sunshine, with the accompanying music of the military bands punctuated by the chimes of Big Ben.

Her Majesty’s coffin passed Buckingham Palace for the final time on its way to Wellington Arch where her hearse to Windsor was waiting. The arch was an original entrance to Buckingham Palace, later becoming a victory arch commemorating the Duke of Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon.

The arch is topped by a large bronze sculpture, depicting the angel of peace descending on the four-horsed chariot of war. 

There was a hush from the crowd in Whitehall, as the funeral procession moved past the Cabinet War Rooms, the Cenotaph and Downing Street. Some emerged from balconies and windows, clad in black, while those on the street craned their necks and clutched cameras as they awaited the chance to say goodbye to the monarch.

Mounties of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police lead the procession followed immediately by representatives of the George Cross foundations from Malta, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, and four representatives from the NHS. 

The route is being lined by the armed forces from Westminster Abbey to the top of Constitution Hill at the Commonwealth Memorial Gates.

Mounties of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police lead the procession followed immediately by representatives of the George Cross foundations from Malta, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, and four representatives from the NHS.

The emotional King Charles III and his grief-stricken family had surrounded the Queen’s coffin at her state funeral in Westminster Abbey in a moving and majestic farewell to the late monarch today in an extraordinary service followed by a national two minute’s silence and the Last Post.

Her Majesty made her final and saddest journey from Westminster Hall to the church where she married and was crowned as Britain mourned its longest-serving monarch and the royals bade goodbye to a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Her coffin was placed close to the altar with her crown, orb and sceptre on its top surrounded by flowers chosen by the King from gardens she loved.  A card in the flowers on top of the coffin read simply: ‘In loving and devoted memory. Charles R.’

The Archbishop of Canterbury hailed the Queen’s ‘abundant life and loving service’ as he delivered the sermon at her state funeral, adding: ‘She was joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.’

State trumpeters from the Household Cavalry sounded the Last Post following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s commendation over the Queen’s coffin and a blessing pronounced by the Dean of Westminster. Two minute’s silence followed across the country before Reveille was sounded by the trumpeters before the National Anthem was sung by the congregation.

Prince Charles looked tearful at points of the service while his sister Princess Anne looked at him with concern and care before fixing her own stare on her mother’s coffin and crown. Prince Andrew looked moved – having been fighting back tears as the family marched behind the Queen’s coffin through Parliament Square.

King Charles III sat at the head of the family next to Princess Anne, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex behind him in the second row, after more than a week leading the monarchy and the nation in mourning his mother the Queen. 

Prince William, who marched with his brother behind the coffin, was on the front row next to Prince George, who was reading the order of service during the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermon, before singing hymns, while Princess Charlotte was seen whispering to her mother, who with William decided to bring them to say goodbye to their great-grandmother.

The King looked very emotional during the singing of the national anthem at Westminster Abbey. Charles remained silent during the song, while his siblings and members of the royal family sang along. Gripping his ceremonial sword, Charles looked downcast as he started straight ahead while a piper played Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.

The UK’s most important church, packed with 2,000 VIPs including prime ministers, presidents and the Queen’s family, was serene aside from the sound of hymns and prayers in a funeral service Her Majesty has curated herself before she died.

On an highly emotional occasion for Britain and the world, the Queen was carried in her oak coffin to the gun carriage used by her parents and was followed through Parliament Square by her son, the King, and her relatives including the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex. Andrew, the Duke of York, appeared to be crying. Outside the Abbey an estimated 2million people are in central London along procession routes and watching on big screens.

The Queen’s funeral drew to a close with a lament played by The Sovereign’s piper and her coffin has been carried from Westminster Abbey to be placed on the State Gun Carriage.

The strains of the lament, ‘Sleep, dearie, sleep’, could still be heard echoing through the abbey as the piper walked off.

Shortly after, as the organist played Bach’s Fantasia in C minor, soldiers of the bearer party entered from the South Quire Aisle.

As the bearers moved slowly through the abbey to place the coffin once more on the gun carriage, they were followed in procession to the Great West Door by The King and Queen Consort along with other members of the Royal Family.

The State Gun Carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin began its funeral procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey at around 10.45am, arriving just before 11am. A single toll from Big Ben signalled the start of the service at Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens have been crowned and buried since 1066. Her Majesty will be laid to rest at Windsor next to her beloved husband Prince Philip and her parents, George VI and the Queen Mother.

Despite the huge crowds, there was absolute silence as around 200 pipers and drummers of Scottish and Irish Regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas and RAF played as the procession went through Parliament Square. The Queen’s own piper played a lament that echoed through the heart of London.

Walking behind the carriage were the King and his siblings, followed by the Prince of Wales, Duke of Sussex and Peter Phillips. The State Gun Carriage has also been previously used for the funerals of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Winston Churchill, and Lord Mountbatten.

There was complete silence from the crowd close to Parliament Square, as the State Gun Carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin slowly moved past. The crowd, momentarily still and with phones held aloft to capture the moment, was around 10-people thick in places, as tens of thousands thronged the streets to say goodbye to the monarch and witness a moment of history.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte travelled to Westminster Abbey in the same car as the Queen Consort, with the Princess of Wales arriving with them. They arrived at the church shortly after some of the Queen’s grandchildren including Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

World leaders including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron arrived at Westminster Abbey around an hour before the service began. The congregation of 2,000 sat in solemn silence as Her Majesty arrived. 

State trumpeters from the Household Cavalry have sounded the Last Post following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s commendation over the Queen’s coffin and a blessing pronounced by the Dean.

Two minute’s silence followed across the country before Reveille was sounded by the trumpeters. The National Anthem is now being sung by the congregation.

In his sermon at the state funeral of the Queen, the Archbishop of Canterbury has told mourners the ‘grief’ felt around the world over her death ‘arises from her abundant life and loving service’, adding: ‘She was joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.’

The Most Rev Justin Welby said: ‘People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer. But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten. The grief of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family but all round the nation, Commonwealth and world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us.’

He said: ‘We will all face the merciful judgement of God: we can all share the Queen’s hope which in life and death inspired her servant leadership. Service in life, hope in death. All who follow the Queen’s example, and inspiration of trust and faith in God, can with her say: ‘We will meet again.”

The Archbishop, standing in the church where kings and queens have been crowned since 1066, added: ‘People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.

‘But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten. The grief of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family but all round the nation, Commonwealth and world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us. She was joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.’

He also said that the Queen had declared on her 21st birthday ‘that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth’. 

‘Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen’, the Archbishop added.

There were cheers and clapping as Prince William, the Princess of Wales and their children George and Charlotte were swept into Parliament Square. King Charles III and Queen Consort, Camilla arrived minutes later.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex travelled down The Mall with a police escort. Harry was seen looking sombre as he was driven in a Range Rover from Wellington Arch, down Constitution Hill and on The Mall towards St James’ Palace. 

He then stood side by side with his brother, before the royals  entered Westminster Hall, where the Queen had been lying in state. 

The UK’s most important church began filling up from 8am as the congregation arrived up to three hours early – including Kate Middleton’s parents – as huge crowds of mourners packed the procession route outside and tens of thousands more went to Windsor, where Her Majesty will be buried later.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte travelled to Westminster Abbey in the same car as the Queen Consort, with the Princess of Wales arriving with them. They arrived at the church shortly after some of the Queen’s grandchildren including Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

Michael and Carole Middleton were among hundreds of VIPs who arrived at the UK’s most important church – where Her Majesty married Prince Philip and had her coronation.

2,000 royals, world leaders and hundreds of members of the public have began filing into the Abbey as billions around the world will watch Her Majesty’s state funeral. 

Most of the VIPs arrived by coach, meeting at the Royal Hospital Chelsea before being put on a bus into Central London. Britain’s ministers – past and present – were among the first arrivals including Nadham Zahawi, Ben Wallace and Jacob Rees-Mogg. But US President Jo Biden went to the Abbey in The Beast – his bomb-proof limousine. 

Michael and Carole Middleton, the parents of Kate, the Princess of Wales, arrived two hours early for the service, followed by Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Queen Consort, Camilla. They were also on a bus together – despite their close links to the Royal Family. Celebrities at the funeral include TV personality Bear Grylls.

Funeral flowers in the abbey featured myrtle – which was used in the Queen’s wedding bouquet as is royal tradition. The huge white and green displays of blooms included asiatic lilies, gladioli, alstroemeria, eustoma and foliage of English oak, weeping birch and the sprigs of myrtle.

Around the coffin will stand the four tall yellow candles which usually rest around the grave of the unknown warrior at the entrance to the historic church.

And outside hardy royal fans defied no-camping rules, as people of all ages set up tents, deck chairs and even a makeshift minibar to grab premium seats for the spectacle that will see 2million flood into the capital. By 8.30am member of the public were told that the procession route was full and began diverting people to Hyde Park to watch on the big screens.

The doors of Westminster Abbey opened at 8am, ahead of the arrival of the first mourners for the funeral of the Queen. The King’s Guards trooped through the gates of Abbey, with two soldiers stationed at the metal gates awaiting the start of proceedings.

Amid concerns that London will be ‘full’ today – and a lack of hotel rooms – scores of people began bedding in to line The Mall in central London over the weekend, despite rules – seemingly loosely enforced – preventing people from setting up camp.

This morning, before dawn, stewards told campers to take down their tents. Huge crowds have also formed in Windsor, where the Queen will be buried this evening.

Several who slept in central London overnight said friends and family told them they were ‘mad’ to carry out the overnight vigil, but insisted they would not miss the occasion.

Among them were school friends Christine Manning, 75, and Dianne Donohue, 73, from Leek in Staffordshire, who slept in a pop-up tent.

Mrs Donohoe, a retired housewife and grandmother-of-three, said: ‘Yes, the advice was not to camp but we disobeyed. We’ve had a good catch-up, we’ve enjoyed it.

‘We were sleeping in the tent and at 4.30am I woke up and asked Chris if she was awake, she was, so we had a whisky and lemonade and a pork pie. A couple more hours’ sleep, then onto the prosecco.

‘We had to take our tent down at 7am because the police told us to, but we couldn’t do it, so we had to get some lad to help us.

‘We’re out of pork pies sadly but we’ve got sausage rolls, and we’ve got some gin now the whisky’s run out – we’re chipper.’

Miss Manning, a retired waitress, added: ‘My kids said we were mad.

‘Well, ‘mental’ is the word they used. They said we were idiots for doing this.

‘I said it had to be done.’

Among those at the top of the Long Walk were Windsor Castle warden Shannon Carroll, 27, and her pals Samantha Geraghty, 24, and Heidi, 26, who declined to give her surname.

Shannon told MailOnline they had arrived at 6am after getting up at 4am to walk from nearby Maidenhead where they all live.

She added:’I’m here to pay my respects to an incredible woman who also happens to be my boss. I’ve worked at the Castle for five years and it’s the least I can do.

‘The Queen was a great employer and an inspirational leader. I don’t think we will ever see anyone like her again.’

Shannon said:’I queued up for 12 hours overnight Friday into Saturday and that was a very poignant and sombre experience.

‘It was incredibly quiet and still but it was at the same time very respectful and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.’

Heidi said:’We are prepared for the day with snacks and drinks and it looks like it will stay dry. We will have a great view of the procession as it comes up the Long Walk and goes into the castle.

‘When we go here there were quite a few people here already but up the front where we are was surprisingly empty. I think we have the best spot to see history in the making.’

Samantha said: ‘It was an early start but well worth it. We will have a great view but we will have to watch the funeral service itself on our phones as we can’t see the big screens.’

The Mall was a frenzy of activity yesterday, as people arrived to lay flowers nearby, get a glimpse of Buckingham Palace and Horse Guards Parade, and bag their vantage points for the funeral procession as it makes its way from Westminster to Windsor.

Tim Thompson, 35, from New Brunswick in Canada, and Charlie Shirley, 36, from north London, also slept in a tent on the Mall.

The pair became friends after being sat next to each other for William and Kate’s wedding in 2011, and resumed their same spot together on Saturday.

Miss Shirley said: ‘We do all the royal events together, it’s like we’re a family.

‘I saw Tim at the Queen’s Jubilee and we said that the next time we see each other would probably be at the Queen’s funeral – we didn’t expect it to be three months later.’

Mr Thompson said: ‘I keep four days’ holiday a year for royal events, so I had to be here.’

American businesswoman Nicole Alford, 40, paid around £1,300 for a last-minute flight to London on Thursday, and said she would camp out until after the funeral.

She said: ‘You don’t come all this way and then watch it on the TV. I want a front-seat of history.

‘My mom said: ‘I can’t believe you’re doing that.’

‘I said: ‘I can’t believe you didn’t think I would do that.’

‘Everybody thinks I’m crazy, but I managed five-and-a-half hours’ uninterrupted sleep on my first night camping out here, so I’m fine.’

Semi-retired teacher Ian Rhodes, 66, and his wife Sue, 58, from Alton in Staffordshire, arrived at the Mall at 11am yesterday to claim their spot – although they said they would sleep in deckchairs rather than pitch a tent.

Mr Rhodes said: ‘The only other time I’ve queued overnight for anything was when Stoke City got to Wembley for the cup final in 1972, and I waited overnight at the club shop with my friends to get tickets.

‘People have said we’re mad, but sanity is relative.’

Mrs Rhodes said the couple’s two adult sons were a bit concerned about their parents ‘roughing it’ overnight in London, but said: ‘I told them we were going to do it anyway – when has their mother ever done what she was told?’

Paulette Galley, from Boston in Lincolnshire, said she was determined to stay on The Mall overnight.

The 54-year-old kitchen assistant, originally from south London, said: ‘I might not get any sleep but I don’t care. She was my Queen, and I want to pay my respects to her.

‘There is no way I wouldn’t be here.’

The Queen’s vault and final resting place beside Philip – and reuniting Us Four: Queen Elizabeth II will today be buried beside her husband in Windsor’s St George’s Chapel where her father George VI, mother Elizabeth and sister Princess Margaret all lie

• Queen will be buried inside the King George VI Memorial Chapel, an annex of St George’s Chapel at Windsor 
• Her mother and father are buried there, as are the ashes of her sister Princess Margaret 
• Prince Philip’s coffin, which was interred in the royal vault following his death last April, will also be moved
• The chapel, which is just 18 feet high, 10 feet wide and 14ft deep, was completed in 1969 

By Harry Howard, History Correspondent for MailOnline 

The Queen’s final resting place will be alongside her beloved husband Prince Philip, sister and parents in Windsor’s St George’s Chapel this evening.

In a final solemn service that will not be televised, the Queen’s closest family, led by her four children, will lay her to rest inside the King George VI Memorial Chapel, which is an annex to St George’s. 

Her mother and father are buried there, as are the ashes of her sister Princess Margaret. Prince Philip’s coffin, which was interred in the nearby Royal Vault following his death last April, will also be moved and put next to the Queen’s.

In 1947, just a few days after the then Princess Elizabeth’s wedding, King George VI wrote his daughter a letter in which he said how ‘our family’, which he described as ‘us four’, had to ‘remain together’. 

Then, he was referring to his wife Queen Elizabeth – later the Queen Mother – and two daughters. Tonight, that wish will be honoured. 

During the Committal Service this afternoon, Her Majesty’s coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault ahead of the private service at 7.30pm.

The King appeared emotional as those in attendance at St George’s Chapel sang the national anthem.

In a touching tribute to his mother, Charles sat in the same seat the Queen had sat in for the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Queen had the memorial annex built line with her father King George VI’s wishes, who did not want to  be buried in the royal vault long-term. 

The chapel, which is just 18 feet high, 10 feet wide and 14ft deep, was completed in 1969 and was the first addition to St George’s Chapel since 1504. It cost around £25,000 and was paid for by the Queen. 

Until today, St George’s Chapel housed the remains of a total of 45 royals, including ten monarchs and a further seven of their consorts. The burial of the Queen later will boost the monarch number to 11. 

The Committal Service was conducted by the Dean of Windsor and, as well as her family, featured a congregation of friends and mourners from her household past and present, including her personal staff from across her private estates. 

At the end of the final hymn, the King placed the Grenadier Guards’ Queen’s Company Colour – the royal standard of the regiment – on the coffin. 

Baron Parker, the Lord Chamberlain and the most senior official in the late Queen’s royal household, then ‘broke’ his Wand of Office and placed it on the Coffin.

As the coffin was lowered into the royal vault, the Garter King of Arms pronounced the styles and titles of the Queen and the Sovereign’s Piper played a lament before walking slowly away to allow the music to fade. 

During this evening’s private burial service, the Dean of Windsor will again conduct proceedings.

At present, a black stone slab is set into the floor of the King George VI Memorial Chapel. 

It features the names of George VI and his wife Elizabeth – who died in 2002 – in gold lettering, above the dates of their births and deaths. 

Near there is a slab of black-and-white diamond-shaped stones which is taken away for funerals to gain access to a lift.

Princess Margaret died just weeks before her mother and was subsequently cremated. Her ashes were initially kept in the royal vault and were then moved to the chapel to be with her parents. 

The memorial chapel was added to the north side of St George’s, behind two of the buttresses holding up the building’s north wall. 

The ceremony to transfer King George’s body there was private, as was the dedication of the chapel the following week.

St George’s Chapel itself was ordered by King Edward IV, with construction beginning in 1475 and finishing in 1528 under the reign of King Henry VIII.

Henry is among the monarchs to be buried there. The others include George III, George IV, George V and William IV.

Other royals who are buried there include Queen Victoria’s father Prince Edward, George III’s wife Queen Charlotte and Queen Mary’s grandfather Prince Adolphus.

As well as burials, successive royal weddings have been held in the chapel, including Queen Victoria’s to Prince Albert and Prince Harry’s to Meghan Markle in 2018. 

Last April, moving images showed the Queen having to sit alone due to coronavirus regulations during Prince Philip’s funeral inside the chapel.  

Earlier monarchs were laid to rest in Westminster Abbey, where they still lie in a royal vault under the Henry VII Chapel. 

Her Majesty’s majestic state funeral took place this morning in front of 2,000 guests inside Westminster Abbey. 

Included among them were hundreds of world leaders, kings and queens and other royals, foreign dignitaries and a select few members of the public who had been awarded honours. 

King Charles III was left close to tears during the service, where the Archbishop of Canterbury described the Queen as having touched ‘a multitude of lives’ and been a ‘joyful’ figure for many.

The Queen was head of state but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and in a personal touch, the wreath adorning her coffin had a handwritten note penned by the King. The message said: ‘In loving and devoted memory.’

Mourners filled the streets of the capital to cheer, applaud and throw flowers in the path of her state hearse following the funeral attended by world leaders, foreign royalty and leading figures from the fight against Covid-19 among more than 2,000 guests.

Hundreds of thousands then watched the ceremonial procession from the Abbey to Wellington Arch – a rare spectacle of thousands of sailors, soldiers and airmen accompanying the former head of the Armed Forces or lining the route.

The royal family were united in their loss, with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex briefly back with the family they left, but as the Queen’s son the Earl of Wessex said in tribute, in death, as in life, they were sharing their ‘beloved mama’ with others.

Her state hearse arrived at a Windsor strewn with flowers after the sight of the Queen had been cheered and applauded by mourners along the route.

When the Queen was lying in state, a river of people flowed past her coffin, paying their respects over four days.

At the end there were touching moments, with the Queen’s fell pony Emma, held by her stud groom and manager, standing a few feet from the coffin as the procession entered the grounds of Windsor Castle.

Waiting in the royal residence’s quadrangle were her two corgis Muick and Sandy – gifts from her son the Duke of York – as the funeral procession passed.

The Queen was head of state but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and, in a personal touch, the wreath adorning her coffin had a handwritten note from the King.

The message said: ‘In loving and devoted memory. Charles R’.

Charles had requested the floral tribute, which replaced a wreath of Balmoral flowers, with foliage and blooms cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove.