Queen Elizabeth II Will Be Buried Alongside Family–Why This Chapel Is So Special to the Royals


Queen Elizabeth II passed away "peacefully" on September 8, 2022, at the age of 96. In remembrance of her 70 years as monarch, Britain observed 10 days of national mourning. The Queen will be interred at a place with a long royal history that dates back to 1475, as revealed by the specifics of her burial.


On September 14, 2022, the Queen left Buckingham Palace for the final time. Before a State Funeral on September 19, 2022, her coffin traveled to Westminster Hall where she will rest for four days. Her daughter Princess Anne, her second son Prince Andrew, her son King Charles III and his wife Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles, and her grandchildren Prince William and Harry followed the coffin as it passed by famous London sites before arriving at Westminster Hall, the oldest section of the Palace of Westminster. Some people waited in line for up to 14 hours to say goodbye to their cherished monarch with a simple "thank you, ma'am" as they approached her coffin, while it's estimated that one million people lined the path to pay their respects.


Where will Queen Elizabeth be buried?



In the 200-year-old Royal Vault located under the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, Queen Elizabeth will be laid to rest with her family. Following a State Funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19, 2022, which is anticipated to draw hundreds of thousands of spectators, she will be laid to rest at St. George's Chapel in Windsor. There will be a Committal Service attended by both the previous and present royal personnel. She will then have her casket lowered into the vault. The royal family and select friends will be the sole attendees of a second private funeral service that will be held in the evening.


Elizabeth will be reunited with her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, father, sister, Princess Margaret, and father, King George VI. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Elizabeth's adored husband, was temporarily kept in the vault after he passed away in April 2021 to await his wife's passing; nevertheless, he will be relocated to lie by her side. There are about 25 coffins in the Royal Vault, the most renowned of which is that of King George III, who, from 1775 to 1783, presided over the United States' separation from Great Britain. But more recently, it has served as a temporary residence for deceased royals while a proper cemetery is being made. King Edward III erected the stunning St. George's Chapel in 1475, and in the late 15th century, it underwent a substantial expansion. In numerous crypts, the enormous building has subsequently served as the final resting place for more than 65 royals. While the Queen's passing is a sad period, the chapel has also hosted a lot of joyous events. There were royal weddings there, including that of King Charles III and Camilla in 2005, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank in 2018, as well as the public introduction of Meghan and Harry's firstborn, Archie.


How will Queen Elizabeth be buried?



The National Post notes that the word "buried" is somewhat misleading because the only soil that will come in contact with Queen Elizabeth's coffin during her funeral "will be a ceremonial silver bowl of red earth scattered by King Charles III (Elizabeth similarly scattered red earth on the casket of her father King George VI)," Instead, she will be kept in an airtight, lead-lined coffin in a stone vault to prevent decay. What about the crown jewels of the Queen? According to reports, she has 300 pieces of jewelry in her collection, including 98 brooches, 46 necklaces, 34 pairs of earrings, 15 rings, 14 watches, and 5 pendants. It's typical for nobility to be interred alongside their priceless possessions. Egyptian pharaohs, for instance, were mummified with amulets, jewels, and other possessions in addition to other items, occasionally even their human slaves, with the belief that these items would go with the corpse to the afterlife. But Queen Elizabeth is expected to keep things straightforward. The Queen's remains will be buried with only a few precious items, according to Lisa Levinson, the Natural Diamond Council's director of communications. She told Metro.co.uk that Her Majesty is "an extraordinarily humble woman at heart" who is unlikely to wear anything more than her plain Welsh gold wedding band and a set of pearl earrings. The Queen will probably just require her wedding bands, according to Mok O'Keeffe of the LGBTQ+ royalist organization GayAristo. He remarked, "This simple gesture of love seems right for a lady who actively appreciated the straightforward pleasures of life and, because of her deep faith, trusted that she would delight in the riches of paradise." "Many of the diamonds she wore are a part of national history and will be given to the future monarch and the queen consort for the rest of their life," the statement reads.


One such item is the Imperial State Crown, which you may have noticed resting on the Queen's casket as it moved down The Mall on September 14 during the procession. In addition to 2,868 diamonds, 269 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and 4 rubies, it is fashioned of platinum, silver, and gold. Despite the fact that the current design goes back to King George VI's coronation in 1937, certain diamonds are around 600 years old. For Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953, the crown was modified. "See, it's considerably smaller, isn't it? She pointed to the top of the diamond-encrusted orb on top in a BBC program from 2018 and stated, "It would have been up to about there when my father wore it. Although it has never been assessed (or insured, keep!) and weighs only 2.2 pounds, some experts estimate its value to be between £3 and £5 billion, or around $3.4 billion.


King Charles III will receive the Imperial State Crown, which he will wear when he departs Westminster Abbey following his coronation. Although the Telegraph reports that the wedding is anticipated to take place in the spring or summer of 2023, we do not yet know the exact date. It would be a great touch if it happened on June 2, which is the 70th anniversary of his mother's coronation. The Imperial State Crown is worn on official events other than coronations, such as the yearly inauguration of Parliament. Otherwise, it is kept at the Tower of London Museum with other Crown Jewels.


Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch


Image: Courtesy of Random House.


Check read Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch, written by Sally Bedell Smith in 2012, for additional information about the British royal family. The New York Times bestseller follows Queen Elizabeth II's life from her childhood as the "heiress presumptive" to her father, King George VI, to the moment he met her husband, Prince Philip, when she was 13 years old, to her ascension to the throne at 25 years old in 1952. It also includes the "real story" behind several plotlines featured in Netflix's The Crown. Elizabeth the Queen takes a deep dive into the Queen's legacy as one of the most well-known monarchs in modern history and also includes interviews with Buckingham Palace insiders and previously unreleased papers.


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