LONDON, UK — Palace officials say the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will take place on Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in London after the public gets an opportunity to pay their last respects to the monarch. It will begin at 6 a.m. Eastern.
Elizabeth, the nation’s longest-reigning sovereign, died Thursday at her summer retreat in the Scottish Highlands.
Details on the 96-year old queen’s funeral will be released later, but organizers on Saturday described the ceremony as a “a fitting farewell to one of the defining figures of our times.’’
Palace officials said there would be opportunities to see the late sovereign’s oak coffin as it journeys from Balmoral Castle in Scotland to Edinburgh and again in London, where her body will lie in state for four days starting Wednesday.
According to the BBC, Elizabeth's funeral will be the first held for a sovereign in the historic Abbey since the 18th century, though her mother's was held there in 2002.
A release from the royal family said after the funeral, Elizabeth's coffin will travel to Windsor Castle and then to St. George's Chapel for a committal service.
Mourning for the queen had already begun by the time of the announcement, with crowds of mourners gathering outside Buckingham Palace bearing bouquets and notes.
“You inspired generations of young women like me to serve the great nation that thrived under your leadership,” read one note penned in purple marker, left at the gate.
“Farewell, my dearest,” read another, attached to a bouquet of yellow roses. “Thank you ma’am ... for being a beacon of hope and stability in troubled times.”
The palace made the announcement hours after the first accession ceremony since 1952, when Queen Elizabeth II took the throne.
Her son, now King Charles III, has declared that the day of his mother’s funeral will be a public holiday. This will be the second extra public holiday for Britons this year — a holiday was declared in early June for celebration’s to mark Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee, for 70 years on the throne.