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Today marks the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral and her great-grandchildren, Prince George and Princess Charlotte will attend, the order of service has shown.
Nine-year-old George and seven-year-old Charlotte will join 2,000 people in Westminster Abbey to remember their great-grandmother while millions tune in to the televised service across the world.
The future king and his sister will walk through the gothic church with other members of the royal family, in procession behind the coffin which will be carried by the military bearer party.
George and Charlotte will attend the state funeral with their parents (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Their grandfather, King Charles III, and the Queen Consort will process immediately behind the coffin and they will be followed by the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence then the Duke of York, followed by the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and then the Prince and Princess of Wales.
George and Charlotte, who called the Queen “Gan Gan”, will walk together behind their parents, walking side by side and they will be followed by their uncle and aunt the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as well as other members of the royal family.
Also expected to be at the funeral are the second and third in line to the throne and they are thought to be going to the committal service in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle afterwards.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ third child Prince Louis is not thought to be attending the funeral.
During the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, his playful antics on the balcony delighted royal fans and at four years old, he is likely to be considered too young to attend.
The nine-year-old future king and his seven-year-old sister will gather with 2,000 people in Westminster Abbey (Victoria Jones/PA)
What will happen at the Queen’s funeral?
The Queen’s piper, Warrant Officer Class 1 (Pipe Major) Paul Burns, is set to play the traditional lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep at the end of the service and after The Last Post, two minutes’ silence, the Reveille, and the national anthem.
The tenor bell will be tolled every minute for 96 minutes to reflect the years of the Queen’s life before the service.
What to expect from the Queen’s funeral
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, will say in The Bidding: “Here, where Queen Elizabeth was married and crowned, we gather from across the nation, from the Commonwealth, and from the nations of the world, to mourn our loss, to remember her long life of selfless service.”
He will speak of the Queen’s “unswerving commitment to a high calling over so many years” as Queen and Head of the Commonwealth.
The Queen’s coffin lying in state in nearby Westminster Hall (Aaron Chown/PA)
“With affection we recall her love for her family and her commitment to the causes she held dear,” the Dean will say.
Which Hymns will be played at the Queen’s funeral?
One of the Hymns, The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want, that will play was sung at the Queen’s wedding when she married the Duke of Edinburgh.
They got married in the same abbey when the Queen was 21-years-old in 1947.
This Hymn was also sung at the funeral of George VI, the Queen’s father, in St George’s Chapel, Windsor in 1952 but the wording was slightly different.
Other Hymns that will be sung are: The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended; and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.
The latter may be recognised as being sung at royal weddings including William and Kate’s, Charles and Camilla’s wedding blessing, and Princess Eugenie’s.
Members of the public view floral tributes in Hyde Park in London (Danny Lawson/PA)
Prayers will be said by the Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, for “Queen Elizabeth’s long life and reign, recalling with gratitude her gifts of wisdom, diligence, and service”.
The Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally will say a prayer for “our most gracious Sovereign Lord King Charles, Camilla the Queen Consort, William Prince of Wales, and all the royal family”.
Reverend Canon Helen Cameron, Moderator of the Free Churches Group, will praise the Queen’s “unstinting devotion to duty, her compassion for her subjects, and her counsel to her ministers”.
Which music will be played at the Queen’s committal service?
The committal service will be held at St George’s Chapel and it will feature pieces of music, several of which were played at the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral in April last year as well as other royal events.
As mourners wait for the service to start, a number of pieces for organ will be played including JS Bach’s Schmucke Dich, O Liebe Seele – Adorn Yourself, O Dear Soul – (BWV 654).
The Queen during the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral (Jonathan Brady/PA)
Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre can also be expected and it’s a firm favourite with the royal family with the music being performed at the wedding of Diana, Princess of Wales and Charles, and at Philip’s funeral.
Nimrod by Sir Edward Elgar, heard at the Queen’s coronation in 1953, will also be played before the committal starts.
Lord Sentamu, the former Archbishop of York, was reportedly part of the team which helped devise the original order of service for the Queen’s state funeral.
The Queen’s life in pictures
The cleric told BBC News the Queen knew the psalms by heart and Psalm 121, also featured at the Queen Mother’s Funeral in 2002, will be sung at her committal.
The service will end with the national anthem which will be followed by Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C Minor (BWV 546), a piece that was heard at the end of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral.
