More than 2,000 people attended this Friday (9) the religious service in memory of Queen Elizabeth II, who died the day before, aged 96. The Cathedral of St. Paul, in central London, was packed, but the atmosphere seemed to reflect a nation still trying to come to terms with the loss of its matriarch.
The ceremony started at 18:10 (14:10 in BrasÃlia), but seven hours earlier there were already groups forming lines to try to get some of the tickets distributed to the public. At the cathedral were officials such as newly elected Prime Minister Liz Truss and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Before the service actually began, those in attendance — and the entire nation — stopped to watch King Charles III’s first address. In his speech, he reaffirmed his mother’s legacy, sought to underscore the importance of his own heirs, Princes William and Harry, and pledged to serve Britain with “loyalty, respect and love”, renewing Elizabeth’s commitments.
The final blessing, delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, came after about an hour into the ceremony. “God gives grace to the living. And to the departed, rest.” The church then sang the new British anthem, now customized for the reign of Charles III — the phrase “God Save the King” replaces “God Save the Queen” and all female pronouns were replaced by their male equivalents.
“Most of us have not known a life without the Queen,” said the Anglican Bishop of London, the Reverend Sarah Mulally. The statement, in addition to being symbolic, is statistically correct. According to the BBC, based on United Nations data, 94% of the world’s population was born after Elizabeth II was crowned Queen.
“When she ascended the throne, the world and the country were very different places. For seven decades, Her Majesty remained a remarkable constant in the lives of millions: a symbol of unity, strength, patience and resilience,” added Mulally, according to the newspaper. The Guardian.
Earlier, another crowd accompanied Charles III’s arrival at Buckingham Palace. The railings of the British royal headquarters were filled with flowers laid in honor of the new king’s mother, as well as letters and messages of mourning and solidarity.
“We came to give our support to the royal family because they are important to us. The Queen has taught us a lot, with her behavior and ethics. We love her,” he told Sheet Englishwoman Marion Patrick, who joined thousands of other people outside the palace.
The whole day was marked by many tributes. Bells rang in several churches across the country and a salvo of 96 cannon shots, one every ten seconds for each year of Elizabeth II’s life, was fired in places such as London’s Hyde Park and Cardiff Castles in Wales. , and Edinburgh, Scotland.
In Parliament, the troubled agenda by successive political crises of recent months gave way to a series of laudatory speeches, such as those by Truss, the new head of government, and her predecessors Boris Johnson and Theresa May.
Boris said he couldn’t hold back tears when the BBC asked him to talk about the Queen in a pre-recorded obituary. “Just not being able to go forward. I’m not someone who cries easily, but I was so overcome with sadness that I had to ask the team to leave,” he said. He praised the “indomitable spirit” of “Elizabeth the Great”.
In his last meeting with the head of the monarchy, in which he delivered his resignation, the politician also said that she was “radiant, knowledgeable about politics and fascinated by it, as always”. May called the queen “simply the most remarkable person I have ever met” and reported that her audiences with the head of state “were not meetings with a great and powerful sovereign, but conversations with an experienced and wise woman”.
The new prime minister extolled the king, highlighting his “sense of duty, even in the midst of mourning”, and the new era of the monarchy.
The United Kingdom continues to be the scene of a series of rites marking the Queen’s farewell and the succession to the British throne. Charles III will be proclaimed king this Saturday (10) and, still without a date, the coffin with Elizabeth’s body must leave Balmoral Castle, in Scotland, and pass through Edinburgh before reaching England.
The wake, during which the public will be able to pay more respects to the queen, is expected to take place at Westminster Hall. Long lines are expected, which will require a security scheme similar to the one adopted by the country for the London Olympics in 2012, according to the British press.
The funeral, with all state honors, will be at the traditional Westminster Abbey. The body will then be taken in procession through central London to Windsor Castle, where Elizabeth II will finally be buried alongside other names of the British royal family.
Charles — who, in effect, is already king — may still have to wait until next year to be crowned. His mother only donned the greatest symbol of British royalty 14 months after assuming the throne left by George Sixth.
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