LONDON/WINDSOR: Huge crowds assembled in London and Windsor for Queen Elizabeth II’s royal burial on Monday gazed in silence and amazement as they watched the majestic procession. Some people sobbed, others holding on to one another for support, and some people held up their children to observe “the making of history.”
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets near Westminster Abbey, the Mall, the opulent boulevard leading to Buckingham Palace, and Hyde Park in central London, where the funeral procession started. Numerous people arrived in the frigid early hours or after camping out overnight.
The audience, who had been watching the funeral service on big television screens or hearing it over loudspeakers, went silent at the first sight of the queen’s coffin being borne to Westminster Abbey.
The queen passed away on September 8 at the age of 96, and many people claimed the scale and pageantry of the burial captured how they felt. Most Britons had never known another monarch before she ascended to the throne after ruling for 70 years.
“It’s difficult for me to put what we just seen into words. This was incredibly noteworthy and special “After attending the burial in London, Camilla Moore, 53, from Nottingham, made the following statement. “It was very incredibly sad. Such a tragedy. it is the end of an era.”
Chloe Jesson, 59, who travelled from Manchester to the south, said the ceremony was emotional.
“You could feel her country’s and her family’s sorrow. Additionally, it was a celebration of her life. Even though I occasionally cried, I was never sad, if that make any sense,” she said.
“The finest thing was that people from various age, backgrounds, and religions gathered here to celebrate,”
After the service, the queen’s coffin was carried on a gun carriage past her Buckingham Palace home and on to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner while being escorted by her family and thousands of troops dressed in ceremonial finery.
It was then transferred to a hearse and taken to Windsor Castle, west of London. The queen will be at the castle, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel.
The road was lined with hundreds of thousands of well-wishers who cheered, applauded, and threw flowers as it travelled from the city to the English countryside, that she so adored.
Army veteran John Ellis, 56, travelled from Portsmouth to Windsor and watched the services from Long Walk, a three-mile-long boulevard that winds through Windsor Great Park to Windsor Castle.
“It was a day of relocation. I was touched by how reverent everyone was throughout,” he stated.
“My own feelings were conflicted and fluctuating… The passing of the hearse was, in my opinion, the most poignant moment. The silence really got to me. I anticipated a lot of music and excitement, especially with all the bands present, but instead there was complete silence.”
Even the queen’s favourite pony and corgis were led outside to watch as the burial procession drew close to the castle.
