The eyes of the world on Westminster Abbey, where over 2,000 people gathered for Elizabeth II's funeral.
Among these hundreds of crowned heads and heads of state and government.
The country has stopped with offices and shops closed, while at least one million people are expected in an armored London to watch the procession or watch the farewell ceremony from the screens set up in the parks.
The doors of Westminster Abbey opened at 8 am (9 am in Italy) when the 2,000 people invited began to take their seats, three hours before the funeral began at 11 am (12 am in Italy).
It is the largest funeral the country has experienced since the death of Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965. After the church service, Elizabeth II's coffin will travel the streets of London in a funeral procession that will end at Wellington Arch in Hyde Park. whence it will depart for Windsor.
The ceremony is officiated by the Dean of Westminster, the Sermon and Commendation delivered by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The national anthem will conclude the state funeral service around 12 noon local time, after two minutes of silence in honor of Elisabetta which will follow the performance of "Last post", the homage to the fallen.
Here is the day hour by hour.
At 8.00,
the doors of Westminster Abbey open for guests to enter before the funeral at 11.00. Heads of state from all over the world, senior British politicians and former prime ministers, members of royal families from all over Europe, are expected. from King Philip and Queen Matilda of Belgium to Spanish King Felipe and Queen Letizia.
10.44 am,
the Queen's coffin is transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey on the Royal Navy's State Gun Carriage, pulled by 142 sailors.
The carriage was last used in 1979 for the funeral of Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten, and earlier for the Queen's father, George VI, in 1952. Members of the royal family, including King Charles and his sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, will follow the procession, led by the flutes and drums of the Scottish and Irish regiments, members of the Royal Air Force and the Gurkhas.
The route will be bordered by the Royal Navy and the Royal Marines and an honor guard will be in Parliament Square, accompanied by a band of the Royal Marines.
11 am,
the state funeral begins at Westminster Abbey.
The service will be led by Westminster Dean David Hoyle, with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby delivering the sermon.
Premier Liz Truss will give a lecture. - 11.55 am, towards the end of the funeral the Last Post will ring, a short bell, followed by two minutes of national silence.
The national anthem and a bagpipe sound will conclude the service around noon.
12.15 pm,
the Queen's coffin will be accompanied in a walking procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, London's Hyde Park Corner.
On either side of the path there will be military and police personnel, Big Ben will play at minute intervals as the procession moves slowly through the streets of the capital.
Shots will be fired every minute from Hyde Park.
The march, led by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, will consist of seven groups, each with their own band.
Members of the UK and Commonwealth armed forces will also be involved.
Queen consort Camilla, Princess of Wales Kate, Duchess of Sussex Meghan and Countess of Wessex Sophie will join the motorcade.
About 1pm
, once in Wellington Arch, the coffin will be transferred to a new hearse for its final journey to Windsor Castle, continuously inhabited by 40 monarchs for nearly a thousand years.
Queen Elizabeth made it her permanent home during the coronavirus pandemic.
At 3 pm
, the hearse should arrive for a procession on foot along the Long Walk of Windsor Castle, the 5 km drive will be surrounded by members of the armed forces.
King Charles and members of the royal family should later join the procession in the Windsor Castle Quadrilateral.
The bells will ring every minute and gunshots will be fired from the castle.
4 pm,
the coffin will enter the Chapel of San Giorgio, chosen by the royal family for weddings, baptisms and funerals.
This is where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan, were married and where the funeral of the Queen's late husband, Prince Philip, was held.
In the presence of around 800 guests, a funeral service will be held by the Dean of Windsor David Conner, with the blessing of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
The service will include traditions that symbolize the end of Elizabeth's reign.
The crown of the imperial state, the orb and the scepter will be removed from the top of the coffin.
At the end of the last hymn, King Charles will deposit on the coffin the flag of the grenadiers, the eldest of the foot guards, who perform ceremonial duties for the monarch.
The Lord Chamberlain, former head of MI5,
Baron Andrew Parker, will 'break' his wand and place it on the coffin.
The snap of the staff will mark the end of his service to the sovereign as her senior officer in the royal house.
The queen will then be lowered into the royal crypt and the king's bagpiper will play, before a blessing and chanting 'God Save the King'.
The performance of the bagpiper at Windsor had been requested personally by the Queen.
4.45 pm,
the farewell service will come to an end, King Charles and the members of the royal family will leave the chapel.
At 7.30 pm
, during a private family ceremony, the Queen will be buried together with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the memorial chapel of King George VI, located inside the Chapel of St. George.
'Elizabeth II 1926-2022' will be engraved on the marble slab.
The numbers of the funeral
At the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which close 10 days of national mourning, about 2,000 are expected at Westminster Abbey, including 500 heads of state and government and dignitaries, one million people on the streets of London and millions of viewers around the world.
- 8km line to pay homage to the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall.
The queue extended from Parliament along the south bank of the River Thames to Southwark Park.
- 1 million people expected in the capital by the London transport authorities.
About 250 extra rail services have been set up for travel in and out of the city.
- 2,000 dignitaries and guests in Westminster Abbey for state funerals, including royalty and world leaders, such as US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Head of State Sergio Mattarella.
- 800 guests for the farewell service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
- 5,949 military personnel deployed since the Queen's death on 8 September at her Balmoral estate in the Scottish Highlands, including 4,416 from the Army, 847 from the Navy and 686 from the Air Force.
In addition, about 175 members of the armed forces of Commonwealth nations were involved.
- 1,650 soldiers involved in the procession of the Queen's coffin from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch. Another 1,000 will line up along the route when the coffin reaches Windsor, 410 soldiers will take part in the procession, 480 will be along the streets, 150 will be on guard duty. honor and 130 others will perform other ceremonials.
- Over 10,000 police officers deployed.
Deputy Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the "extremely complex" operation is the largest in the history of London forces, surpassing the 2012 London Olympics, which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day.
- 36 kilometers of barriers erected in central London alone to control crowds and keep key areas around Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace safe.
- 125 cinemas open to broadcast the funeral live.
- 2,868 diamonds, along with 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls and 4 rubies in the crown of the imperial state placed on the queen's coffin.
- 2 minutes of silence at the end of the funeral at Westminster Abbey.