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By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON (AA) – Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin left Westminster Abbey after a state funeral service attended by leaders and dignitaries from around the globe.
London is hosting the biggest funeral ceremony globally in decades as the queen is being laid to rest on Monday, 10 days after her death at the age of 96.
A short procession brought the coffin from the Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster to the Westminster Abbey, where the service was held after the arrival of King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla.
The service was attended by around 100 heads of state, including US President Joe Biden, more than 20 royals, and many representatives from some 200 countries.
A two-minute silence was observed in the abbey and throughout the UK at the end of the sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Following the service, a huge procession is taking the coffin from the abbey to the Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner via Parliament Square, White Hall, Horse Guard Road, The Mall, and Green Park.
The funeral events have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to central London and they are being broadcast live on television and on big screens installed in Hyde Park.
Unprecedented security measures have been enforced in and around the parliament building, Westminster Abbey, the procession routes, and across other roads leading to central London.
- Windsor
The queen’s coffin will be driven to Windsor before a new procession starts at 3 p.m. local time (1400GMT).
The procession will end at the Windsor Castle and the royal family will follow the coffin from the castle to St. George’s Chapel. A service in the chapel will host 800 guests.
At 7.30 p.m. (1830GMT), Elizabeth will be laid to rest next to her husband Prince Phillip with a private service that is to be attended by the king and other family members in the King George VI Memorial Chapel.
Elizabeth, the longest-serving monarch of the UK, died on Sept. 8 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland.