London : The longest-serving monarch in British history died aged 96 at Balmoral, her Scottish Highland retreat, on September 8 after a year of declining health.
The last state funeral to be held in Britain was in 1965 for the country’s wartime prime minister Winston Churchill.
But the country will still dig deep into its centuries of tradition to honour the only monarch that most Britons have ever known.
Many ordinary people have camped out for days to witness the elaborate spectacle of pageantry and to pay their final respects.
After the funeral, the flag-draped coffin of the queen, topped with the majestic Imperial State Crown, will be taken west to Windsor Castle.
She will be buried alongside her father king George VI, her mother queen Elizabeth the queen mother, and sister princess Margaret, reuniting in death the family who once called themselves “us four”.
On Monday, more than 2,000 people, including heads of state from US President Joe Biden to Japan’s reclusive Emperor Naruhito, will pack Westminster Abbey, the imposing location for royal coronations, marriages and funerals for more than 1,000 years.
The queen’s eldest son and successor, King Charles III, 73, will lead mourners, alongside his three siblings and his heir, Prince William.
Late Sunday, Charles said he and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, had been “deeply touched” by the messages of condolence and support.
Some 6,000 military personnel have been drafted in to take part in the solemn procession to and from the abbey, on the route to Windsor and the committal service at St George’s Chapel.
Britain’s highest-ranking military officer, Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin, called it “our last duty for Her Majesty the Queen”, their late commander-in-chief, and the first for Charles.
The abbey service itself, taking place under London’s biggest-ever police security operation, starts at 11:00 am (1000 GMT).
After just under an hour, a bugler will play The Last Post, before two minutes of silence and the reworded national anthem, “God Save the King”.
