This timeline of events regarding the death and state funeral of Elizabeth II lists times in British Summer Time.

Background edit

On 7 May 2022, Queen Elizabeth II passed Johann II of Liechtenstein as the second longest reigning European monarch of the Common Era, and a month later, on 12 June she surpassed Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand as the second longest verified reigning monarch and longest verified reigning female monarch in world history. In the late spring of that year, the UK and many members of the Commonwealth of Nations celebrated her Platinum Jubilee, the first of any British monarch, cheering her amazing longevity. However, her health began to deteriorate after the death of her husband, Prince Philip. Since his death, just two months short of his 100th birthday, the previous year, she had suffered what was euphemistically called "mobility issues." She was forced to sit out most of the festivities, and only was able to perform a triumphal bow on the balcony of Buckingham Palace at the end.

 
The Prince of Wales reading the Queen's Speech

Her declining health forced her to deputize her son, the then-Prince of Wales, to preside over the opening of Parliament in May of that year, a ceremony she had only missed twice before while she was pregnant with her two younger sons well over half a century earlier. Still, it was reported in the press that her health, while still precarious, was starting to improve.

During his time, the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson was faced with a series of crises, leading to mass resignations of almost his entire cabinet, and culminating in his resignation as Leader of the Conservative Party, starting a prolonged process of electing a new leader, who would subsequently become the Queen's 15th prime minister.

5 September edit

  • The 1922 Committee announces the results of the party election, Liz Truss is elected leader by a wide margin.
  • It is confirmed that the Queen is unable to return to Buckingham Palace due to her "mobility issues". Therefore, Truss and Johnson would visit her at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.[1] This was the first time the "kissing hands" ceremony did not take place in Buckingham Palace in over a century.

6 September edit

 
Truss arriving at 10 Downing Street after her audience with Elizabeth II
  • Johnson makes a final speech at 10 Downing Street, before heading for Scotland along with Truss.
  • Johnson tenders his resignation to Her Majesty. The Queen then invites Truss to form a new government, and she becomes her 15th, and last, Prime Minister.
  • Johnson and Truss return to London separately.

7 September edit

  • The Queen postpones a meeting of the Privy Council, as her health begins to deteriorate rapidly.
  • Princess Anne arrives at The Queen's bedside sometime in the afternoon.

The day of the death edit

8 September edit

  • 12:30 p.m.: Buckingham Palace publicly announced that the Queen was "under medical supervision" at Balmoral Castle after doctors expressed concern over her health. The statement read:[5][6]

    Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision. The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral.

    Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle made a brief statement of good wishes in Parliament in response.[3]
  • 12:40 p.m.: The BBC, the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, cut away from regular programming on BBC One to continuously cover the Queen's condition, with all BBC news journalists and broadcasters dressed in black later in the afternoon.[7] Special reports about her condition were run on other main television channels in the UK, including ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.[8]
  • 3:10 p.m.: The Queen dies at the age of 96. The Prince of Wales succeeds her and becomes King Charles III.[9]
  • 4:30 p.m.: Cabinet secretary Simon Case informed Prime Minister Truss of the Queen's death at around this time.[10][11] Thirty minutes later, Prince William, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex arrived at Balmoral.[10]
  • 7:10 p.m.: Prime Minister Truss speaks the announcement of the Queen's death at 10 Downing Street.
  • 8:00 p.m.: The Duke of Sussex, who travelled alone and departed later than other family members, arrived at Balmoral.[2]

Post-death edit

9 September edit

  • 8:22 a.m.: The Duke of Sussex leaves Balmoral Castle.
  • King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla fly back to London.
  • Prime Minister Truss meets with the new king and discusses the implementation of Operation London Bridge, followed by other dignitaries.
  • 12:00 – 1:35 p.m.: The Sebastopol Bell at Windsor Castle tolled 96 times, one for each year of Elizabeth II's life.
  • Mid-afternoon: The Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge fly back to London.
  • 6:00 p.m.: King Charles addresses his people in the UK and the Commonwealth for the first time. In the speech, he creates his son and his daughter-in-law Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales, respectively.

10 September edit

  • 10:00 a.m.: The first Accession Council in over three generations takes place, attending are hundreds of dignitaries, including Prime Minister Truss, the Queen consort, and Prince of Wales.
  • 10:30 a.m.: The new King meets with the Council to complete its business. This is the first time this has been broadcast.
  • 12 noon: Charles III is officially proclaimed King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Dominions and realms across the seas, by the Garter King of Arms.

11 September edit

  • Over the course of the day, local councils around the UK read proclamations of Charles III as king.
  • 10:06 a.m.: The Queen's coffin leaves Balmoral, beginning the implementation of Operation Unicorn.
  • 1:00 p.m.: The King and Queen consort meet with the Scottish parliament in Edinburgh.
  • 4:23 p.m.: The Queen's coffin arrives at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.

12 September edit

  • 2:00 p.m.: The Queen's coffin leaves Holyrood Palace and is taken in procession up the Royal Mile to St Giles' Cathedral, followed by the Queen's children.
  • 3:00 p.m.: A Service of Thanksgiving is held at St Giles' Cathedral.
  • The Queen's coffin is kept at St Giles' Cathedral overnight for a lying-in-state, with more than 26,000 mourners registered.[23]
  • 7:45 p.m.: The Queen's four children keep a Vigil of the Princes around the coffin for about twenty minutes.

13 September edit

  • 12 noon: the King flies to Northern Ireland, where he addresses the parliament there.
  • 3:00 p.m.: A trans-denominational service of thanksgiving is held at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast in the presence of the King, the Prime Minister and the First Minister of Scotland, as well as local Northern Irish politicians.
  • 5:00 p.m.: The Queen's coffin leaves Edinburgh and is driven to a nearby airport.
  • 5:50 p.m.: The Queen's coffin departs the airport.
  • 6:50 p.m.: The Queen's coffin lands at RAF Northolt. It is received by Prime Minister Liz Truss before being driven to Buckingham Palace. Well-wishers pay their respects along the route, with many cars stopping on the outside lane of the A40 to catch a glimpse of the late Queen's coffin.
  • 8:05 p.m.: The Queen's coffin arrives at Buckingham Palace, where it remains overnight.

14 September edit

 
The Queen's cortege on The Mall towards Westminster Hall
  • 2:00 p.m.: The Queen's coffin is taken in procession from the Palace to Westminster Hall.
  • 3:00 p.m.: A brief service is led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Dean of Westminster in Westminster Hall ahead of the lying-in-state.
  • 5:00 p.m.: Lying in State begins. Queues are reportedly up to 3 miles long at times.[23]

16 September edit

  • King Charles visits the Welsh Senedd in Cardiff, thereby completing his tour of the UK's four national capitals.[24]
  • Meanwhile, the media reports queues up to five miles long to see the lying in state.
  • The Dukes of York and Sussex are given special dispensation to wear their uniforms at the vigils scheduled for later that day and the following one.[25] The King and his siblings hold the first vigil, which lasts 15 minutes.

17 September edit

  • King Charles and the Prince of Wales make a surprise visit to the queue for the lying-in-state, which was referred to the BBC as "the queue of queues," some of whom were waiting for up to 13 hours.
  • Dignitaries from around the Commonwealth and the rest of the world begin descending upon London for the funeral.
  • King Charles holds a reception with the Prime Ministers of the countries where he remains head of state. Preeminent of these are Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau of Canada, Anthony Albanese of Australia, and Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, with whom he holds individual audiences.
  • The late Queen's eight grandchildren stand vigil at her bier for approximately half an hour.[26]
  • US President Joe Biden's people announced that he will not formally meet with Prime Minister Truss until after the funeral,[27] as the UN General Debate will begin that very day in New York and he is due to speak there the following day.[28]
  • Prime Minister Truss begins holding meetings with fellow Commonwealth heads of government.[29]
  • The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)'s official protocol advises heads of state and government attending the funeral to go to Westminster Abbey on buses, rather than official limousines, with the exception of the Presidents of the United States and Israel.[30][failed verification]

18 September edit

  • All reigning monarchs in Europe, as well as those of Japan, Jordan and Thailand, are now in London.
  • The BBC and other news organizations report that this is the largest security operation in British history.
  • King Charles holds a reception at Buckingham Palace for all visiting dignitaries.

19 September: State funeral of Elizabeth II edit

The funeral of Elizabeth II is the culmination of 10 days of minutely choreographed pageantry, orchestrated by a uniquely British combination of aristocrats, military advisers, palace aides, and civil servants, Parts of which have been observed in person by millions, and at least a billion on TV.[31]

  • 6:30 a.m.: The final participants in the Queue pass by HM's coffin, as the lying-in-state ends. An estimated 300,000 people queued to pay their respects, with the wait time reaching an estimated 17 hours.
  • 8:00 a.m.: Westminster Abbey opened for the congregation attending the Queen’s funeral. This event is the largest gathering of heads of state, government and royalty the UK has hosted in decades. As the abbey opens, the King’s Guard traipses through the gates, with two soldiers stationed there awaiting the start of the proceedings.
  • 9:30 a.m.: Westminster Abbey’s tenor bell tolls once every minute 96 times in the run-up to the funeral service, marking every year of the Queen’s life.
  • 10:30 a.m.: HM’s coffin is carried on the state funeral gun carriage from Westminster Hall to the abbey, towed by 142 sailors from the Royal Navy. The tradition dates to the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
  • 10:44 a.m.: The royal family followed the coffin into the abbey
  • 10:52 a.m.: The procession arrives at Westminster Abbey
  • 11:00 a.m.: The service begins
  • 11:55 a.m.: The Last Post sounded, The Last Post played, followed by a two-minute silence.
  • 12 noon: The national anthem is sung, bringing the state funeral service to a close. The coffin is brought to the state gun carriage.
  • 12:15 p.m.: Coffin drawn to Wellington Arch in a ceremonial procession, departing for Windsor in the state hearse.
  • 3:00 p.m.: The hearse reaches Shaw Farm Gate in Albert Road, Windsor, shortly after 3pm and joined a funeral procession already formed and ready to head up Long Walk to Windsor Castle.
  • 3:40 p.m.: The King, accompanied by other members of the royal family, join the procession at the Quadrangle on the castle grounds, with members of the royal family positioned at the rear of the coffin.
  • 3:53 p.m.: The procession reaches the west steps of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. The bearer party lifts the coffin from the hearse and carries it in procession into the chapel before the committal service.
  • 4:00 p.m.: The televised committal service begins, attended by about 800 guests. It was conducted by the dean of Windsor, David Conner, with a blessing from the archbishop of Canterbury. Her Majesty's coffin is then lowered into the royal vault at 4:50p.m.
  • 7.30 p.m.: The dean of Windsor conducts a private burial service, attended just by the King and the royal family. The Queen’s coffin is laid to rest in George VI memorial chapel within St George’s Chapel, alongside Prince Philip, the ashes of Princess Margaret and The Queen's parents, their Majesties; King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother

While this is happening, most of the world leaders attending fly to New York City, to attend the UN General assembly.

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  3. ^ a b "Ripple of rumour around the Commons as concern grows for the Queen". The Guardian. 8 September 2022. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
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  11. ^ "Politicians pay tribute to Queen's warmth and wisdom". BBC News. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
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  14. ^ @RoyalFamily (September 8, 2022). "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Desk, RXTV News (2022-09-08). "UK channels suspend broadcasts following Queen's death". RXTV info. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
  16. ^ CBBC Channel – announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II (8th September 2022), retrieved 9 September 2022
  17. ^ "CBeebies – Schedules, Thursday 8 September 2022". BBC. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
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  22. ^ "Queen Elizabeth II death: Cardiff Castle flag lowered". BBC. 8 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
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  24. ^ "Queen lying in state: Wait time to see coffin now 19 hours as King and siblings end vigil – as it happened". TheGuardian.com. 16 September 2022.
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  26. ^ "Prince Harry and Prince William Unite for Stunning Vigil at Queen Elizabeth's Coffin with Cousins".
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  28. ^ "General Assembly of the United Nations".
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