Last straight line after ten days of mourning.

The world says goodbye, Monday, September 19, to Elizabeth II during a grandiose funeral in London, where dignitaries from around the world will pay tribute to a sovereign with an incredible destiny, who had devoted her 70 years of reign to making the British crown shine. 

After 10 days of national mourning, tributes and rituals, 2,000 people are expected for a religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey at 10 a.m. GMT.  

Queen #ElizabethII's eight grandchildren at Westminster Hall to watch over her coffin:


The Prince of Wales


The Duke of Sussex


Peter Phillips


Zara Tindall


Princess Beatrice


Princess Eugenie


Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor


Viscount Severnpic.twitter.com/G6SQLcS4uG

— Ulysse Paris (@ulysseparisiser) September 17, 2022

An audience of prestigious personalities 

In the audience, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Emperor Naruhito, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan has been announced.

After the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was not invited.

On the other hand, the first Ukrainian lady, Olena Zelenska, made the trip.

The coffin will arrive there in procession, followed by King Charles III and members of the Royal Family on foot.  

For years, London had not known such an influx of dignitaries.

Representatives of European royal families including King Philippe of Belgium, King Felipe VI of Spain and Prince Albert of Monaco will also take their place under the Gothic arches of the abbey so linked to the fate of Elizabeth II, who died at 96. .

It was there that still a princess she had married, at the age of 21, in November 1947, the dashing Philip Mountbatten, before being crowned there on June 2, 1953. 

"Farewell our glorious queen", "a life of selfless service": Elizabeth II dominates the front pages of the British press on Monday, which salutes her "dedication" to the Crown. 

The greatest security challenge in history 

Monday, a public holiday in the United Kingdom, represents for the London police the biggest security challenge in its history.  

The state funeral, the first since that of Winston Churchill in 1965, could be among the most watched TV events in history.  

They will also be shown on giant screens in London and across the UK.  

After the ceremony at Westminter Abbey, scheduled to last an hour and during which dozens of flights were canceled so that noise did not disturb the solemnity of the moment, the country will freeze for two minutes of silence. 

The coffin will leave the Abbey followed by King Charles III, Queen Consort Camilla and members of the Royal Family, and will again be placed on a Royal Navy gun carriage before a historic procession, with great fanfare, through the streets of central London, to Wellington's Arch, from where he will leave by hearse for Windsor Castle.

More than 6,000 soldiers will participate. 

A huge wave of collective emotion

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected on the route, in London and as far as Windsor, 35 km west of the capital, to pay their last respects to an extremely popular queen, a reassuring anchor of stability in the convulsions of a changing world.

For millions of Britons, she was the one and only.  

Increasingly frail in recent months, suffering from mobility problems, Elizabeth II died on September 8 in her Scottish castle of Balmoral.

Two days earlier, she still received there, smiling, the brand new Prime Minister Liz Truss, her last public photo.

She was the oldest serving leader in the world.

During her life, she went through the Second World War, saw the dissolution of the British Empire. 

His funeral completes a national mourning marked by an immense wave of collective emotion.

Tens or even hundreds of thousands of people gathered in front of the remains until the last moment and the closing around 5:30 GMT of Westminster Hall, the oldest section of Parliament where the coffin was exposed 24 hours a day for five days.   

hours of waiting 

A last tear or bow, and already, it was time to leave with the memory of having been part of history.

Some will have waited up to 24 hours in the queue that snaked for miles along the Thames.

But in the sun or in the cold of the night, they were there for her, who had served them for 70 years, 7 months and 2 days. 

Near all the places associated with the Queen, all over the country, carpets of flowers, emotional messages.  

The British have also rediscovered centuries-old rituals - proclamation of a monarch with royal trumpets, royal guards in swan-feather headdresses guarding the coffin. 

With Elizabeth II the page of the last planetary queen turns, whose reign is unique in its duration and endurance.  

She was at the time of her death, in addition to the United Kingdom, queen of 14 kingdoms, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Some of these countries have made no secret of their wish to see their link with the monarchy evolve.

During her life, Elizabeth II, whose dignity Joe Biden hailed on Sunday, had traveled the equivalent of 42 times around the earth.  

She will be buried Monday evening in privacy, in the George VI Memorial, annex of the chapel of the castle where she had lived her last years.

She will rest close to her parents and Prince Philip who died in April 2021. They had been married for 73 years. 

The accession of Charles III 

After 12 exhausting days of travels in the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom, walkabouts combined with the mourning of a mother, Charles III, 73, will have to write his own story. 

Some dreamed of a quick transition with the new Prince of Wales, his son William, 40.

But Charles III promised, like his mother, to serve all his life.

Solemn, unifying, accessible and inclusive, his first steps reassured, with the soothing presence of Camilla by his side. 

His approval rating has skyrocketed, now at 70% according to a new YouGov poll that places William at 80%.

But the many challenges are just beginning.

The United Kingdom will then resume the thread of its life, suspended since September 8.

The cost-of-living crisis and social unrest should soon be back in the headlines. 

With AFP

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