Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II
, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, died on 8 September 2022 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. Elizabeth's reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch. She was immediately succeeded by her eldest child, Charles III.
Elizabeth's death set in motion the final version of Operation London Bridge, a funeral plan first devised in the 1960s, and Operation Unicorn, the plan for the Queen's death in Scotland. Elizabeth's coffin lay at rest in St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh from 12 to 13 September, after which it was flown to London, where it lay in state in Westminster Hall from 14 to 19 September. An estimated 33,000 people filed past the Queen's coffin in Edinburgh, and approximately 250,000 people queued to pay their respects in London. The United Kingdom observed a national mourning period of 10 days.
Elizabeth's state funeral on 19 September was the first held in Britain since Winston Churchill's in 1965. A funeral service was held at Westminster Abbey, followed by a procession to Wellington Arch which featured around 3,000 military personnel and was watched by approximately one million people in central London. The state hearse then transported the Queen's coffin to Windsor, followed by another procession through Windsor Great Park and a committal service at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. The Queen was interred later that evening with her husband, Prince Philip, in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, in a private service attended only by her closest family.
Designated as a public holiday in the UK and several Commonwealth countries, the state funeral included dignitaries from around the world and featured the largest security operation ever mounted in the UK. Coverage of the state funeral was one of the UK's most watched special television broadcasts, surpassing the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the previous most-watched royal event of the 21st century. The period of official mourning and the funeral was estimated to have cost the government £162 million.
Background
Queen Elizabeth II was in good health for most of her life, but her health declined significantly following the death of her husband, Prince Philip, in April 2021. She began to use a walking stick for public engagements in October 2021. On 20 October, the Queen stayed overnight in King Edward VII's Hospital in central London, necessitating the cancellation of scheduled visits to Northern Ireland and the COP26 summit in Glasgow. She suffered a sprained back in November, which prevented her from attending the 2021 National Service of Remembrance.In February 2022, during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, the Queen was one of several people at Windsor Castle to test positive for COVID-19. Her symptoms were described as "mild and cold-like", and she later commented that the disease "does leave one very tired and exhausted". The monarch's health became a cause of concern to commentators at this time.
The Queen was said to be feeling well enough to resume her official duties by 1 March 2022 and attended the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on 29 March. Despite this, the Queen did not attend several appointments over the following months due to "episodic mobility problems", including the annual Commonwealth Day service in March, the Royal Maundy service in April, the State Opening of Parliament in May, and the National Service of Thanksgiving for her Platinum Jubilee in June. During the Jubilee the Queen also suffered "discomfort" after standing during Trooping the Colour and was largely confined to balcony appearances during the celebrations. According to her apothecary in Scotland, Douglas Glass, there had been private concerns about her health for several months before her death; he was quoted in a later biography as saying "It was expected and we were quite aware of what was going to happen."
Two days before her death, on 6 September 2022, the Queen accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson and appointed Liz Truss to succeed him as Prime Minister; these meetings took place at Balmoral Castle, rather than their usual location, Buckingham Palace. At the meeting with Truss, the final public photos of the Queen were taken by Jane Barlow. A bruise on her hand prompted public concern. Following the meeting the Queen's private secretary, Edward Young, privately informed Truss that the Queen might not live for much longer. He had also previously informed Johnson that regarding her health, the Queen had "gone down quite a bit over the summer" and later told him that the Queen knew she was dying throughout that summer. On 7 September, the Queen was scheduled to attend an online meeting of the Privy Council to swear in new ministers in Truss's government, but this was cancelled after she was advised by doctors to rest. The Queen's final public statement, issued that same day, was a message of condolences for the victims of a mass stabbing incident in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Death and national mourning
Death and announcement
Queen Elizabeth II died at 15:10 BST on 8 September 2022 at the age of 96. Her death certificate, which was made public on 29 September, recorded her cause of death as old age. Her former prime minister Boris Johnson and the biographer Gyles Brandreth claim that she was suffering from a form of bone marrow cancer, which Brandreth wrote was multiple myeloma. Her death was publicly announced at 18:30. Elizabeth II was the first monarch to die in Scotland since James V in 1542.Members of the royal family travelled to Balmoral Castle throughout the day. Prince Charles arrived at 10:30 and was met by Princess Anne, who was already staying with the Queen. Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, also travelled to Balmoral from the Birkhall estate. Prince William, then-Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, left RAF Northolt on a flight to Aberdeen Airport and arrived at Balmoral shortly after 17:00; Prince Harry, who had travelled alone and departed later than the other family members, arrived at Balmoral at 20:00; Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, did not join them.
Prime Minister Liz Truss is believed to have been informed of the Queen's declining health that morning by the Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case, and received an update at 12:00. The Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer, was informed by a note passed to him by Deputy Leader Angela Rayner during a speech he was giving in the House of Commons. At 12:30, Buckingham Palace made a public announcement expressing concern for the Queen's health; the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, made a brief statement of good wishes in response.
Truss was informed at 16:30 that the Queen had died, and the royal family announced her death two hours later via newswires and a post on Twitter. A notice with the same statement was affixed to the railings outside Buckingham Palace and posted on the royal family website. The announcement read:
BBC One continuously covered the Queen's condition from 12:40, after the first official statement; special reports were also run on ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5. British television announcements of the Queen's death began at 18:31, when news presenter Huw Edwards read the royal family's statement during a live broadcast on the BBC News channel, BBC One and BBC Two. At 18:32 the presenters of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live made similar announcements. At around 18:36 all BBC Radio stations had either handed over, or were forcibly cut to Radio 4, with the network-wide simulcast beginning with a news report read by Chris Aldridge to announce the Queen's death. 5 Live resumed programmes later that night, and others remained suspended until the morning. Many other radio stations were put on standby for 'obituary mode' from 14:00, with special features being suspended. Normal programming was then stopped beginning at 18:30, with Global's stations all joining LBC until 22:00. All Capital, Heart and Smooth spin-off brands and regional stations were flipped to the main network services prior for the announcement from Global's Newsroom.
All of Bauer's stations aired a network-wide news report at different times. All stations were then required to revert to a more toned-down playlist, with easy-listening music being played throughout the weekend, and presenters looking back at the life of the Queen, and sharing their memories of the late monarch. Normal playlists started to resume around early-evening on Saturday. Capital and Heart's weekly Big Top 40 show was also cancelled for that week.
Following the announcement, the Union flags at Buckingham Palace and 10 Downing Street were lowered to half-mast. At Balmoral Castle, the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom was lowered and then, because the new king was present, was raised again. The Royal Banner of Scotland was lowered to half-mast at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, as was the Welsh flag at Cardiff Castle. Crowds gathered outside royal residences, where a double rainbow was seen over Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace.
At 13:00 the next day, 9 September, a death gun salute of 96 rounds representing the years of the Queen's life were fired by the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery in Hyde Park, London, by the Honourable Artillery Company at the Tower of London and by 105th Regiment Royal Artillery at Edinburgh Castle. Simultaneous salutes were fired at British Army garrisons at Belfast, Cardiff, York, Colchester, Stirling, Gibraltar and Larkhill; also on Royal Navy warships at sea and at naval bases.
Scottish events
As the Queen had died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn was the first part of Operation London Bridge to take effect. Her body was taken to Edinburgh, where ceremonies were held, then to London for the state funeral.The Queen's coffin left Balmoral Castle at 10:46 on 11 September, draped with the Scottish version of the Royal Standard of the United Kingdom and topped with a wreath of flowers from the castle gardens. The journey of the cortege, which included Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence, was long and passed through Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross, and Fife. People lined the route of the cortege to pay their respects, and in Aberdeenshire farmers formed a guard of honour of tractors. The cortege reached the Palace of Holyroodhouse at 16:23 and the coffin was placed in the Throne Room. The coffin, which had been commissioned about 30 years before her death, was made from oak and was lined with lead, reportedly weighing.On 12 September the coffin was carried up the Royal Mile to St Giles' Cathedral, in a procession that included King Charles III, Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, the Bearer Party from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and the Royal Company of Archers. Queen Camilla and Sophie, then known as Countess of Wessex and Forfar, followed closely in their car. Guns were fired every minute from Edinburgh Castle during the procession. On arrival the coffin was carried into the cathedral, and the Crown of Scotland was placed on it.
A service of thanksgiving was then held to celebrate the Queen's life and to highlight her association with Scotland. The service was led by the minister of St Giles' Cathedral, Calum Macleod, and the homily given by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields. Psalm 118 was sung in Gaelic by Karen Matheson. It was attended by the royal party; politicians, including Liz Truss and First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon; and representatives from the Queen's Scottish charities and organisations.
The coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, which allowed around 33,000 people to file past it. In the evening King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward held a vigil at the cathedral, a custom known as the Vigil of the Princes; Princess Anne was the first woman to participate in such an event.
On 13 September the coffin was taken by hearse to Edinburgh Airport and flown to RAF Northolt on a Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster, accompanied by Princess Anne and Sir Timothy Laurence. The Royal Air Force Bearer Party carried the coffin onto the aircraft and a Guard of Honour was formed by the Royal Regiment of Scotland. During the journey the Scottish version of the Royal Standard that draped the coffin was replaced by the Royal Standard that is used in the rest of the United Kingdom.