From the words in the hymns to the stirring echo of the music, the Queen left nothing to chance in orchestrating her own send off.
Years in the planning, our late monarch’s personality shone throughout a service dedicated to a message of hope and celebration.
The sight of her coffin, adorned with the exquisite Imperial Crown and draped in the Royal Standard, created a striking centrepiece against the black-and-white chequered stone floor of the gothic Westminster Abbey.
The Queen’s plea to avoid a “long, boring” funeral service was answered with a relatively concise but stirring send-off that includes familiar hymns and traditional Bible readings.
Her Majesty’s selection of music harked back to the happier occasions of her life, her marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh and her coronation whoch also took place in the Abbey.
After much discussion over many years with her most senior aides and religious counsel, the Queen decided to choose melodies that not only suited the grandeur of the occasion at Westminster Abbey but also recalled her most cherished moments.
I was privileged to be one of 2,000 inside Westminster Abbey yesterday, to witness a genuine celebration of a life of dedication and duty to others.
In his sermon the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Queen was “joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives”.
Among what could arguably be the largest gathering of kings, queen world leaders and religious leaders all in one place, sat representatives from more than 600 charities signifying her deep roots in communities throughout the nation.
The Archbishop Justin Welby said: “Her Late Majesty famously declared in a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the Nation and Commonwealth.
“Rarely has such a promise been so well kept.”
Indeed, among the haunting sounds of the royal choir and the sight of grief etched on the faces of a devastated family, an outpouring of love and thanks for a monarch like no other did shine through.
King Charles cut a weary figure throughout, after a hectic schedule over 11 days of mourning where he vowed to honour the Queen’s enduring legacy.
That feeling of continuity was even present in the selection of rousing songs such The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended, a hallmark of a traditional Anglican funeral in her role as head of the Church.
But there were lighter, more personal moments nestled among the hymns including The Lord’s My Shepherd, sung at the Queen’s wedding to Philip in the abbey in 1947.
Not just the mother of nations, but a mother, grandmother and great grandmother to a future king, the Queen also chose a rousing rendition of Love Divine All Loves Excelling, first heard for the Prince and Princess of Wales’ wedding in 2011.
Her deep affection for the Commonwealth of nations, that she championed throughout her 70-year reign, was sealed with a reading by the Secretary General Baroness Scotland.
In Corinthians 15: 20-26 we are told of the concept of life after death.
Just as Her Majesty had told a nation gripped by anxiety over the coronavirus pandemic that “We will meet again”, echoing the words of one of her generation’s most loved figures, Vera Lynn, a message of hope in a dark world was clear.
Following the , the haunting sounds of the royal choir delivered the anthem ‘My soul, there is a country’, set by Hubert Parry, which the Queen chose as “an Anthem of great hope”, Buckingham Palace said.
The anthem O Taste and See was written by Ralph Vaughan Williams, whose ashes are also buried in the church, for the Queen’s coronation in the abbey in 1953.
The Queen’s Piper, who played her morning call each day, helped close the funeral with a rendition of the traditional piece Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.
Pipe Major Paul Burns, the monarch’s personal player at the time of her death, performed as the service came to an end, before the coffin left Westminster Abbey for Windsor.
Maj Burns of the Royal Regiment of Scotland is the 17th holder of the role, which was established in 1843 during the reign of Queen Victoria.
On top of the Queen’s coffin lay a wreath, awash with glorious gold, light and bright pink and deep burgundy.
Complete with touches of white, which reflected off the Imperial State crown, it was created from bushes grown using a sprig from the late monarch’s wedding bouquet.
A gift from her griefing son Charles, the new King requested cuttings from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House, aside a handwritten message: “In loving and devoted memory. Charles R.”
They include rosemary, for remembrance, and myrtle, an ancient symbol of a happy marriage.
In celebrating her life Justin Welby added: “People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. “Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
“But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten.”
