In a Know It All special, ANGUS MACSWAN, of Reuters, looks at some facts and figures about Westminster Abbey, site of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral…
London, UK
Reuters
PICTURE: Alissa Bankowski/Unsplash
Westminster Abbey in central London has been the site of coronations, weddings and burials of English and then British royalty for nearly 1,000 years. On Monday, it will be the venue for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth, who died on 8th September in Balmoral, Scotland, at the age of 96. She was also married and crowned in the Abbey. Here’s some facts about the abbey…
• The original church was built on the site of a monastery in the 11th century by King Edward the Confessor. The present church – one of the British capital’s best known landmarks – dates from 1245, when construction began under the auspices of King Henry III.
• The Abbey website says: “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s connection with Westminster Abbey ran like a thread through her early life and her long reign. As an 11-year-old girl, she watched as her father was crowned here. As a young adult, she married here and was crowned here. She continued to come to the Abbey regularly to attend celebrations and commemorations of national and international significance and to attend family weddings and funerals.”
• Monday’s service will be attended by King Charles and members of the royal family, the British Prime Minister Liz Truss and members of the government and opposition, and foreign leaders, royalty and diplomatic representatives among others.
PICTURE: Simon Hurry/Unsplash
WINDSOR CASTLE, QUEEN ELIZABETH’S HOME AND NOW FINAL RESTING PLACE
Queen Elizabeth will be buried alongside her husband Prince Philip in a small chapel in the grounds of Windsor Castle in a private ceremony after her state funeral on Monday. Her parents were also laid to rest in St George’s Chapel.
• Windsor Castle is the resting place of more than a dozen English and British kings and queens. Most are buried in St George’s Chapel, including Henry VIII, who died in 1547, and Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649.
• Founded by William the Conqueror in the 11th Century, it is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world, according to the Royal Collection Trust website. It has been the home of 40 monarchs, including Queen Elizabeth.
• Work began on St George’s Chapel in 1475 under Edward IV, and it contains relics including the Cross Gneth – which legend says includes part of the cross Jesus was crucified on – and a sword Edward III purportedly used in battle.
• Queen Elizabeth commissioned the King George VI memorial chapel, named for her father, which is next to the quire of the main chapel, in 1962. It is where he and his wife, the Queen Mother, are interred, along with their younger daughter Princess Margaret.
• The coffin of Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, who died on 9th April, 2021, last year, has been stored in a Royal Vault so that he can be buried alongside the Queen.
– ALISTAIR SMOUT and ANGUS MACSWAN
• The Dean of Westminster, David Hoyle, will conduct the service and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will preach the sermon.
• The Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of the Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, will perform.
• The Queen’s wedding to Prince Philip took place on 20th November, 1947. Her coronation was on 2nd June, 1953. Her final visit was for Philip’s Thanksgiving Service on 29th March, 2022.
• Princess Anne, the Queen’s daughter, and Captain Mark Phillips were married there on 14th November, 1973.
• The royal wedding of her grandson Prince William to Kate Middleton took place in the Abbey on 29th April, 2011.
• The Abbey was the venue for the funeral of Princess Diana on 6th September, 1997, and the Queen Mother’s funeral on 9th April, 2002.
• The first monarch buried at the abbey was King Edward in 1066. Up to 1760, 13 kings of England and four reigning queens including Elizabeth I, were buried there. Mary Queen of Scots is also buried in the Abbey. George II was the last monarch to be buried there. Since then royal burials have been at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle or at the mausoleum at Frogmore, an estate adjoining the castle, according to the website.
• William the Conqueror was crowned in the Abbey on Christmas Day, 1066. The coronation of every monarch since then has taken place there, except for Edward V, who was never crowned, and Edward VIII, who abdicated before he could be.
• Eight prime ministers and a number of eminent military men, poets and other notables are also buried in the Abbey. It also hosts the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.
