WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The world pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, as the United Kingdom holds a state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday, September 19.
The queen, who reigned for 70 years, died peacefully at her home in Scotland on September 8 at the age of 96.
Bookmark and refresh this page for live updates, including dispatches from our senior reporter Lian Buan, on Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral in London at 6 pm (Manila time) on Monday.
Watch the live feed in the video below:
LATEST UPDATES
Funeral procession to the queen’s final resting place
Ex-king Juan Carlos’ attendance at queen’s funeral draws scorn from Spanish left
LONDON, United Kingdom – The presence of Spain’s disgraced former king Juan Carlos at the state funeral of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has prompted criticism at home, with one political party calling him a “criminal on the run”.
Spain’s official delegation is led by King Felipe and his wife Queen Letizia. Felipe came to the throne when his father abdicated in 2014 amid a series of scandals.
But Juan Carlos, who was related to the late Queen Elizabeth, received a private invitation to attend, a British government source confirmed.
His attendance alongside Spain’s official delegation has raised eyebrows since he now lives in exile in Abu Dhabi.
Read more here.
Royals’ emotions for queen show through ceremonial pageantry
LONDON, United Kingdom – Queen Elizabeth’s closest relatives were ashen-faced as they followed her coffin to Westminster Abbey for her funeral on Monday, September 19, in a meticulously choreographed procession that nevertheless betrayed the high emotions of the day.
Elizabeth’s son King Charles and his three younger siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward, made up the first line behind the gun carriage pulled by 142 Royal Navy sailors that bore the queen’s coffin from nearby Westminster Hall to the abbey.
Behind them came Charles’s sons, Princes William and Harry, and other senior members of the royal family, their grave faces showing the emotional impact of the solemn moment.
Charles and William had travelled to the hall together in a royal car, cheered and applauded by crowds of mourners who lined the streets of central London to witness a day of sombre ceremony.
But from the moment the queen’s coffin began to emerge, carried by pall bearers, everyone fell silent and the royals marched to the sound of bagpipes and the tolling of a bell.
Charles, Anne, Edward and William, all dressed in ceremonial military uniform, saluted as the coffin was lifted off the gun carriage in front of the abbey.
Andrew and Harry, who are no longer working royals, were in morning suits and did not salute, even though both had served in conflict in the past, in the Falklands and in Afghanistan.
After 11 days of momentous change and activity since his mother died, Charles looked distraught and exhausted as the pall bearers carried the coffin into the abbey through the Great West Door for the funeral service.
Waiting just inside were his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, as well as William’s wife Kate and their children George, 9, and Charlotte, 7, and Harry’s wife Meghan.
The royals followed the coffin up the aisle, with close-up television shots showing the grief on their faces.
William and Kate had their children between them as they walked, and could be seen touching their shoulders to support them. Later during the service, Charlotte could be seen swinging her legs as her feet could not reach the floor. – Rappler.com
LOOK: Scenes from Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral
Somber pageantry as funeral begins for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
LONDON, United Kingdom – King Charles and other senior British royals followed Queen Elizabeth’s coffin into Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 9, joining world leaders and monarchs to bid farewell to a beloved figure who unified the nation through her 70-year reign.
In scenes of inimitable pageantry, pall bearers carried her flag-draped casket along the aisle in the country’s first state funeral since 1965, when Winston Churchill was afforded the honor.
Tens of thousands of people lined the streets as the queen’s casket made the short journey from Westminster Hall where she had been lying-in-state, pulled along on a gun carriage by 142 sailors with arms linked. A bell tolled and bagpipes skirled.
Pin-drop silence fell over London’s Hyde Park nearby as thousands of people, who for hours had picnicked and chatted, went quiet the second the queen’s coffin appeared on screens erected for the occasion.
Read more here.