Queen's favorite song, "The Lord is My Shephard," was played during the service.
Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest by the nation with a formal burial and a military parade. World leaders and foreign royalty joined King Charles III and the Royal Family in their grief at the Westminster Abbey congregation. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets as the coffin was carried to Windsor for the burial, reports BBC.
The Westminster Abbey and His Majesty's Chapel Royal choirs, under the direction of James O'Donnell, perform at the funeral, presided over by the Very Reverend Dr. David Hoyle, dean of Westminster, per Good Morning America.
As massive processions made their way slowly through London, there was a cacophony of sounds outside, including bagpipes, tolling bells, massed bands, tramping feet, and mournful marches by Beethoven, Chopin, and Mendelssohn. The choir performed the opening hymn, "Like as the Hart," a specially commissioned choral work written for the ceremony by the master of the king's music, Judith Weir.
Buckingham Palace said, "The piece, inspired by Her Majesty's unwavering Christian faith, is a setting of Psalm 42 to music and will be sung unaccompanied." After that, the second hymn of the service, "The Lord is my Shepherd," was chosen since it was sung at the queen's wedding to then-Lt. Philip Mountbatten in 1947, was performed after reading by British Prime Minister Liz Truss.
It has long been said to be one of the queen's favorite songs, and in the BBC Radio 2 program "Our Queen: 90 Musical Years," it was listed as one of her top 10 songs. After the anthem, there was a sequence of prayers from the high altar, and then the choir performed "O Taste and See," a song that Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote for the queen's 1953 coronation.
Before the State Trumpeters blow the "Reveille" and the congregation sang "God Save the King," a two-minute silence was observed at Westminster Abbey and throughout the United Kingdom at the conclusion of the ceremony. Buckingham Palace previously said, "At the conclusion of the State Funeral, The Sovereign's Piper of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will play the traditional Lament, 'Sleep, dearie, sleep.' "
The bells of Westminster Abbey were fully rung were muffled as is customary following the funeral of a British monarch. The queen's casket was then taken to Windsor Castle for the committal service at St. George's Chapel, the queen's last resting place. The coffin of Prince Philip, who passed away 17 months earlier, was buried in the Royal Vault at St. George's and was waiting to be transferred to the memorial chapel when the Queen passed away. The vault also contains the remains of the Queen's parents and sister, Princess Margaret.
References:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62952004
Cover Image Source: Getty Images/WPA Pool
