Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

On Monday 19th September London will be hosting the State funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Over a million visitors are expected to arrive in London ahead of the funeral including hundreds of foreign dignitaries. London will be hosting one of the largest global occasions in our lifetime. Her Majesty the Queen reigned as Monarch for over 70 years. She took over the crown from her father, George XI, in 1952 and led the country for the next seven decades.

Having lost her husband in recent years Elizabeth was 96 years old when she died peacefully at her Scottish residence of Balmoral. She is survived by four children, the oldest of whom will become King Charles III.

Among the famous world leaders expected to arrive in the English capital, ahead of the state funeral on Monday, include US President, Joe Biden, French President, Emmanuelle Macron and former US President, Barak Obama.

The Queen has been the head of the Commonwealth during her time as the British Monarch, which is made up of over nations including former colonies such as India and Australia. This year the Commonwealth Games also took place in England. The City of Birmingham hosted the Games in August.

With the huge number of foreign dignitaries along with over 1 million mourners expected in London on Monday the Metropolitan Police has had to be supported by several other police forces including Thames Valley and Greater Manchester Police amongst others. The police will be supported by the British armed forces in guaranteeing security for what will be the largest event in our lifetime.

The three main arms of the British armed forces will play a pivotal role in the proceedings on Monday. With around the 4000 service personnel from the Army being joined by smaller numbers from the Air Force and the Navy along with several hundred Commonwealth Personnel, their duties will include being part of the procession, security and other supportive roles. The procession will take a route between Westminster Abbey and Wellington Arch in Central London.

The queues to mourn her majesty as she is resting in Westminster Hall have been over 5 miles long with people waiting over 12 hours in line to see her. On Monday the funeral will take place at 11am.

King Charles III will take over the Monarchy from his mother, with a likely Coronation date of sometime next year. We hope he has a long and successful reign just like his predecessor. While the future for the Monarchy is uncertain Charles will certainly have the support of the majority of the British people as he starts his reign as King.