Two-minute silence across the United Kingdom to conclude Queen’s funeral

The state funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II will take place on Monday at Westminster Abbey

A two-minute silence will be held at 11.55am on Monday at the conclusion of the state funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II, it has been announced.

The silence will follow the sounding of the Last Post, bringing to an end a service in Westminster Abbey that will draw together members of the royal family, visiting monarchs and leaders from around the globe, senior British dignitaries, and members of the public.

A congregation of more than 2,000 will be led by King Charles III in saying a formal farewell to the UK’s longest-serving sovereign before her body is taken to Windsor Castle for burial alongside her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Under a plan meticulously drawn up over many years with the input of the late monarch, and confirmed by Buckingham Palace today, the coffin bearing the Queen will be taken on the morning of Monday 19 September from Westminster Hall, where Her Majesty has been lying in state since Wednesday, and where King Charles and his siblings will mount a vigil on Friday evening.

The last members of the public to pay their respects will file past the oak coffin at 6.30am on Monday. It will then be taken to the abbey shortly after 10.30am on a gun carriage hauled by 142 Royal Navy personnel.

The coffin will first be lifted from the catafalque where it has stood in Westminster Hall – draped with the royal standard and carrying the imperial state crown, orb and sceptre – by pall-bearers of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, of which the Queen was company commander.

They will carry the coffin to the north door of the hall, where it will be placed upon the gun carriage, which was removed from active military use in 1901 for the funeral of Queen Victoria and has since conveyed the bodies of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Sir Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten.

Its route through Parliament Square will be lined by military personnel, with a guard of honour drawn from all three services, accompanied by a Royal Marines band.

King Charles and the Queen’s other children and grandchildren – including Princes William and Harry – will walk behind the coffin on its eight-minute journey to the abbey.

Beginning at 11am, the funeral service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster David Hoyle, with lessons read by prime minister Liz Truss and Commonwealth secretary general Baroness Scotland, and a sermon given by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The sounding of the “Last Post” and the two-minute silence will be followed by the national anthem and a lament played by the Queen’s piper, before the conclusion of the ceremony at 12 noon.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the route as the Queen’s coffin is then taken in procession up Whitehall, down The Mall and up Constitution Hill to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, where it will be transferred to the state hearse for the journey to Windsor.

Again, the King and other royals will walk behind the coffin for the 45-minute procession, during which guns will be fired in Hyde Park and Big Ben will toll.

Despite calls over the past few days for the route to be extended to allow more members of the public to pay their respects, palace officials made clear that no significant changes had been made this week to the long-established plan.

Details of the route the Queen’s hearse will take to Windsor have not been released, but it will arrive at the castle by road at around 3pm to lead the procession down the Long Walk.

Among the congregation of around 800 for the committal service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor will be many current and former members of the Queen’s household, including staff who worked for her personally during her 70-year reign.

The coffin will enter the historic chapel at 4pm for a service led by the Dean of Windsor David Conner, with prayers said by clergy from churches linked to the royal residences in Windsor, Sandringham and Balmoral.

Before the final hymn, the crown, orb and sceptre will be removed from the coffin to be returned to the Tower of London.

The lord chamberlain, Lord Parker of Minsmere, will break his wand of office as a symbol of the conclusion of his service to the monarch, placing the pieces on the coffin before it is lowered into the royal vault.

And, in a moving final gesture, the sovereign’s piper will again play a bagpipe lament, walking slowly away from the doorway so that the music in the chapel gradually fades.

A private burial service will then be conducted by the dean in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, attended only by the King and close relatives, allowing for a “deeply personal” family farewell at the end of a day of very public mourning.

Here are the expected times of the key events:

End of lying-in-state

Before the end of the Queen’s lying-in-state, a vigil will be mounted by King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex at 7.30pm on Friday, 16 September.

Members of the public will be able to file past the coffin to pay their respects until 6.30am on Monday.

Following this, the doors will close in preparation for the procession to Westminster Abbey, where the state funeral service will take place.

Route

At 10.35am the coffin will be lifted from the catafalque on which it has stood in Westminster Hall by pall-bearers of the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, of which the Queen was company commander.

Her Majesty’s coffin will then be moved from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, setting off from New Palace Yard at 10.44am, for the funeral service.

The route to Westminster Abbey, which will be lined by members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, will go from Parliament Square to Broad Sanctuary and The Sanctuary.

Procession

The King will lead the procession to Westminster Abbey, which will be made up of 200 musicians from the Massed Pipes and Drums of Scottish and Irish Regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Royal Air Force. He will be joined by the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex.

Behind the quartet will be the Queen’s grandsons Peter Phillips, the Duke of Sussex and the new Prince of Wales.

They will be followed by the late monarch’s son-in-law Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of Gloucester (the Queen’s cousin), and the Queen’s nephew the Earl of Snowdon.

The Queen’s coffin will be carried on the state gun carriage, a 123-year-old apparatus towed by 98 Royal Navy sailors in a tradition dating back to the funeral of Queen Victoria.

The procession will arrive at the west gate of Westminster Abbey at 10.52am, where pall-bearers will lift the coffin from the carriage and carry it into Westminster Abbey to begin the service.

Westminster Abbey Service

Doors will open at 8am to allow guests – including US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron – to take their seats.

Heads of state and overseas government representatives, including foreign royal families, governors general and realm prime ministers, will gather initially at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, and travel under “collective arrangements” to Westminster Abbey.

Other representatives of the realms and the Commonwealth, holders of the orders of chivalry including recipients of the Victoria Cross and George Cross, and representatives of the government, parliament, devolved parliaments and assemblies, the Church, and Her Majesty’s patronages will form the congregation, along with further representatives from the judiciary, emergency services, public services and the professions, and public representatives, totalling 2,000 people.

Members of the British royal family who are not part of the procession from Westminster Hall will have arrived at the abbey and been escorted to their seats in the south lantern.

At 11.00am, the state funeral service will begin, led by the Dean of Westminster. The prime minister, Ms Truss, and the secretary general of the Commonwealth are both expected to give readings at the service.

Towards the end of the service, at approximately 11.55am, the “Last Post” will sound, followed by two minutes’ silence and the national anthem, to finish around 12 noon.

Windsor private service

Following the state funeral, the coffin will be followed by the King, the Queen Consort, the Prince and Princess of Wales and other members of the royal family, who will walk in the procession to Wellington Arch, from where it will be driven to Windsor on the state hearse.

The route to Wellington Arch will be lined by members of the armed forces, from Westminster Abbey to the top of Constitution Hill, and guns will be fired in Hyde Park every minute during the procession.

A committal service will take place at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, at 4pm on Monday. At 7.30pm, the Queen will be buried in a private service.

The Queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, alongside her husband of 70 years, the Duke of Edinburgh. The duke is currently buried in the royal vault, but will be moved to be with his wife.

Full timeline for Monday

6.30am: the Queen's lying-in-state ends, marking the public’s last opportunity to pay respects to the late monarch. Preparations for the Westminster Abbey service begin.

8am: the doors of Westminster Abbey will be opened for the congregation to begin taking their seats.

10.35am: the coffin will be moved from Westminster Hall to the state gun carriage.

10.44am: the gun carriage will set off, drawn by officers of the Royal Navy followed by the King, members of the royal family, and members of the King’s household and the household of the Prince of Wales.

11am: the state funeral will begin, conducted by the Dean of Westminster.

11.55am: the “Last Post” will sound, followed by a two-minute silence throughout the United Kingdom, ending with the national anthem.

Noon: the service will end and the coffin will be followed by the King, the Queen Consort, the Prince and Princess of Wales and members of the royal family, who will walk behind it in the procession to Wellington Arch

12.15pm: the procession will set off for Wellington Arch, with the route lined by members of the armed forces, from Westminster Abbey to the top of Constitution Hill, at the Commonwealth memorial gates. The King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery will witness the departure of the coffin to Windsor.

3.06pm: the state hearse will approach Shaw Farm Gate on Albert Road, Windsor

3.10pm: the procession will step off.

3.20pm: governors general and realm prime ministers will arrive at the west door of St George’s Chapel, and will be escorted to their seats in the nave.

3.25pm: members of the royal family not walking in the outdoor procession will arrive at the chapel.

3.40pm: the King and those in the procession will join together as it passes into Engine Court. As before, the Queen Consort with the Princess of Wales, and the Duchess of Sussex with the Countess of Wessex, will follow by car.

3:53 pm: the bearer party will lift the coffin from the state hearse, from where it will be carried in procession up the west steps.

4pm: the committal service will begin. At the conclusion, the King and the royal family will depart from the Galilee porch for Windsor Castle.

7.30pm: a private burial service will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor, attended by the King and members of the royal family. Her Majesty is to be buried together with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the King George VI Memorial Chapel.