Prince George and Princess Charlotte will attend Queen’s State Funeral, order of service confirms
However, Prince Louis, the youngest child of Prince William and Princess Kate, will not attend
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Prince George and Princess Charlotte will attend the State Funeral of their great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, it has been confirmed.
The order of service for Monday’s elaborate ceremony shows that George, nine, and his seven-year-old sister, Charlotte, will gather alongside 2,000 others in Westminster Abbey to celebrate the life and reign of the late British monarch, who died last Thursday aged 96.
However, Prince Louis, 4, the youngest child of Prince William and Princess Kate, will not attend.
There had been questions over whether the children would take part in the ceremony, due to their young age.
The brother and sister are due to walk through the gothic church with the royal family, in procession behind Her Majesty’s coffin, as millions are expected to watch the televised service across the globe.
King Charles III and the Queen Consort will process directly behind the coffin, flanked by the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, followed up by the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and then the Prince and Princess of Wales.
George and Charlotte, to whom the Queen was affectionally known as “Gan Gan”, will walk behind their parents, trailed by their uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, and other members of the royal family.
The young prince, who is second in line to the throne, and his sister, who follows her brother in third, are both expected to attend the committal service in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle after the ceremony in central London.
Towards the end of the service at approximately 11.55am, the Last Post will sound followed by a two minutes’ silence and the National Anthem to finish around 12 noon.
Ahead of the historic service, the tenor bell toll every minute for 96 minutes, reflecting the years of the Queen’s life.
In The Bidding, the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, will say: “Here, where Queen Elizabeth was married and crowned, we gather from across the nation, from the Commonwealth, and from the nations of the world, to mourn our loss, to remember her long life of selfless service.”
He will then pay tribute to the late monarch’s “unswerving commitment to a high calling over so many years” as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth.
“With affection we recall her love for her family and her commitment to the causes she held dear,” the Dean will say.
Among the hymns chosen for the occasion, “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want”, was sung at the Queen’s wedding, when she married the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, in the same abbey, as a 21-year-old bride in 1947.
The seminal hymn was also sung at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth’s father, George VI in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1952, but with slightly different wording.
“The Day Thou Gavest”, “Lord, Is Ended, and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” are also to be sung by the 2,000-strong congregation.
The latter has often featured at royal weddings including that of the Prince and Princess of Wales, the wedding blessing of Charles and Camilla’s, and Princess Eugenie’s.
Prayers will be given by the Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, for “Queen Elizabeth’s long life and reign, recalling with gratitude her gifts of wisdom, diligence, and service”.
The Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally will say a prayer for “our most gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles, Camilla the Queen Consort, William Prince of Wales, and all the royal family”.
Reverend Canon Helen Cameron, Moderator of the Free Churches Group, will praise the Queen’s “unstinting devotion to duty, her compassion for her subjects, and her counsel to her ministers”.
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