Prince George and Princess Charlotte.Photo: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty
Prince GeorgeandPrincess Charlotteare set to have a special role at their great-grandmother’s funeral.
According to the order of service forQueen Elizabeth’s state funeral on Monday, 9-year-old George and 7-year-old Charlotte will walk behind the late monarch’s coffin for the procession in Westminster Abbey. The siblings will follow right after their parents,Prince WilliamandKate Middleton, and in front of their unclePrince Harryand auntMeghan Markle.
Prince Louis, 4, was likely deemed too young to join the rest of the family for Monday’s funeral.
Prince GeorgeandPrincess Charlotteare not included in the order of service for the committal service for later in the day, which will take place at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis joined Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles on the Buckingham Palace balcony on June 5.Samir Hussein/WireImage
Prince GeorgeandPrincess Charlotteare several years younger than their fatherPrince Williamwas when he attended his motherPrincess Diana’s funeral in 1997 at the age of 15. The new Prince of Wales revealed that theceremonial processionofQueen Elizabeth’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall last week reminded him of the same ritual following the death of his mother.
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“He said how difficult it was yesterday and how it reminded him of his mum’s funeral,” said mourner Jane Wells,The Telegraphreported. “Catherine said it’s just been such a difficult time for all of them, for the whole family.”
Prince GeorgeandPrincess Charlottehave been joining their parents at more family events, from the royals' annual Christmas Day church outing to a visit to Wales in June as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee weekend.
The royal siblings alsoappeared at a memorial servicefor their great-grandfatherPrince Philipin March, also held at Westminster Abbey. After Queen Elizabeth’s husband’s funeral was scaled down due to COVID-19 government restrictions at the time, the memorial service provided a chance for more family and representatives from the various charities that Prince Philip was involved in to pay their respects.
Prince George, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Princess Charlotte.Samir Hussein/WireImage
The order of service shares more details on what to expect atQueen Elizabeth’s state funeral, where about 2,000 people from around the world will gather to mourn the monarch.
Before the start of the service, Westminster Abbey’s tenor bell will toll once a minute for 96 minutes, one for each year of The Queen’s life.
The choirs of Westminster Abbey and His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St. James’s Palace will lead singing of the hymns. At the start of the funeral service, the Queen’s coffin will be carried into the Abbey as the five sentences, lines of scripture set to music that have been used at every state funeral since the early part of the 18th century, are sung.
Prime Minister Liz Truss, whoQueen Elizabethappointed just two days before her death, will do a reading.
Queen Elizabeth on Sept. 6, 2022 at Balmoral Castle.Jane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty
At the conclusion of the State Funeral, the Piper of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will play the traditional Lament, “Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.”
The Queen’s Coffin process out of Westminster Abbey, returning to the gun carriage for the Procession to Wellington Arch in Hyde Park Corner before traveling to Windsor for the Committal Service in St.George’s Chapel.
Afterwards, the bells of Westminster Abbey will be rung, fully muffled, as is the tradition following the funeral of the sovereign.
source: people.com
