Demise of the Crown: #30: Queen Elizabeth

As the official public record since 1665, The Gazette has been recording the deaths of monarchs for over three centuries. In final part of our ‘Demise of the Crown’ series, historian Russell Malloch looks through the archives at The Gazette’s reporting of demise of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Queen Elizabeth II at a Garden Party 2019

The arrangements that were put into effect after the demise of the crown on 8 September 2022 (Gazette issue 63808) were by far the most extensive to mark the passing of a sovereign, since The Gazette announced its first demise with the death of King Charles II in 1685. This was partly because Queen Elizabeth II was, to borrow words from her committal service, taken out of this transitory life, but peacefully at her home in Scotland, rather than at Windsor, or in London.

The proceedings that followed the Queen’s demise were without parallel, in terms of their scale and complexity, as well as their location. They also had an international impact, as the state funeral of 2022 has been described as the most widely watched event in world history.

The six spiritual and temporal personnel who were mentioned earlier – the archbishop of Canterbury, and the deans of Westminster and Windsor, along with the earl marshal, lord chamberlain and Garter king of arms – shared the responsibility for delivering one of the largest royal events of all time.

Contingency plans had been made to address the situation should the Queen die beyond the royal residences near London, or even outside the realm. Those plans were put into operation in 2022 in a way that allowed the customary state ceremonies to be observed in England, but with a preliminary lying at rest, state procession and service in Scotland, and with less formal royal events taking place in Northern Ireland and Wales, which marked both the Queen’s passing, and the King’s accession to the crown.

Mourning

One of the first official announcements that appeared in The Gazette dealt with the general period of mourning. This was an apparently innocuous subject, but was one that had given rise to difficulties that were reflected in The Gazette, from the Stuart period through to the early 20^th century, including the impact of the black dress regulations on silk manufacturers and the drapery business, and the Duke of Norfolk upsetting parts of the nation by referring to the sovereign as “most sacred”.

The order for the general mourning continued to be issued by the earl marshal (Gazette issue 63810), who changed the text that was used for George V in 1936 and George VI in 1952, which stated that persons were expected to put themselves into mourning until after the sovereign’s funeral. The 2022 wording removed any reference to official “expectations”, and instead stated:

“This is to give public notice that to give all persons the opportunity to mark the present occasion of the death of Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of blessed memory a period of mourning is hereby instituted which will last until after Her late Majesty’s funeral.”

The London proceedings were quite out of the ordinary, but this was a matter of settled policy, rather than because of a health crisis of the kind that had limited the ritual that could be observed to mark the death of the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021. The Queen’s state funeral was held in Westminster Abbey, despite the precedents of St George’s Chapel being preferred to the abbey after the demise of every sovereign from George III in 1820 to George VI in 1952. The Westminster ritual was, however, followed by final acts at Windsor.

The ceremonials for the Westminster and Windsor elements of the obsequies were gazetted in July 2024 (Gazette issue 64462), but not those for the proceedings in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Scotland

The first religious ritual to mark the passing of the Queen was held on 10 September at Crathie Church, near the entrance to the Balmoral estate. The private service was attended by the royal family, including the Princess Royal and Sir Timothy Laurence, who had married at Crathie in 1992. The King was not present, as the service took place on the day of his accession council, when members of the Privy Council met at St James’s Palace to formally proclaim his succession to the crown.

On the following day, the Queen’s coffin was covered with the Scottish royal standard, and conveyed by motor hearse from Balmoral to Edinburgh, where it lay overnight at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The next morning the King flew to Edinburgh, having previously received addresses from both houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall.

In his first public procession, the King dressed as a field-marshal and wore the insignia of a knight the Thistle, as well as being the first sovereign to wear the badge of the Order of Merit (Gazette issue 56631). The bearer party at Holyroodhouse were from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, and transferred the Queen’s remains to the hearse that carried it to St Giles’ Cathedral. The King walked to the cathedral, and there was a reminder of the passing of earlier monarchs, as the programme assigned places to bearers of the royal standard and the Scottish saltire.

After it reached the cathedral, the crown of Scotland was placed on the casket by the Duke of Hamilton, the hereditary keeper of the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The Duke of Buccleuch walked in the procession as captain-general of the Royal Company of Archers, the King’s Body Guard for Scotland, and later performed the same role in London and Windsor, as did Joseph Morrow as Lyon king of arms, and the Earl of Dalhousie as lord steward.

A service of thanksgiving was then held, with the prime minister and first minister of Scotland present in St Giles’, and all in sight of the banners of the members of the Order of the Thistle, of which the King had been a knight since 1977 (Gazette issue 47147).

The casket lay in the cathedral on 12-13 September, before being taken to Edinburgh Airport, where an air force bearer party placed it on a plane destined for RAF Northolt. During the flight the Scottish standard was replaced by the version of the royal flag that was flown elsewhere in the realm. On reaching the west London airfield, the Queen’s remains were transferred to a state hearse and taken to the Bow Room in Buckingham Palace, where her father held his first Garter investiture after gaining control of the order in 1946.

The political situation had changed since the last demise of the crown, and this was recognised after the Queen’s death, as the King was present in St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast on 13 September at a service of reflection on his mother’s life. A few days later, he attended a prayer service in Llandaff Cathedral, where the Garter banners of two knights the Queen had invested hung, those of the Welsh lord lieutenant Cennydd Traherne and the prime minister James Callaghan.

Westminster

Meanwhile, on 14 September the main state procession took place as the royal remains were transferred from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. The principal elements that formed the ritual for the Queen’s father were retained, as the bearer party was provided by the Grenadier Guards; the coffin was draped with the royal standard and displayed the imperial state crown and other regalia; and members of the royal household walked before the casket, which was borne on a gun carriage with six horses under the control of the Royal Horse Artillery.

One important change to the programmes of 1901 to 1952 was the absence of foreign sovereigns and heads of state, as the Queen’s coffin was followed by the King and nine family members, while the foreign monarchs and presidents gathered for the ritual in Westminster Abbey rather than walk in the procession. The other changes were to include the English officers of arms in the London proceedings, rather than limit their involvement to the closing stages of the obsequies at Windsor, and to join the Scottish officers of arms in the ceremonial.

At Westminster Hall the coffin was greeted by the earl marshal, the new lord great chamberlain, the lord speaker and the speaker of the House of Commons. It was placed on a catafalque with the regalia, but without the Actors’ pall that was used for the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey in 1920, and at the lying in state of King George V and Queen Mary. The archbishop of Canterbury conducted a short service, and the guard duties and public access measures that followed the conclusion of the religious ritual were similar to the arrangements that were made in 1910, 1936 and 1952.

The state funeral in Westminster Abbey on 19 September 2022 began after the coffin was borne on a gun carriage drawn by naval ratings, which covered the short distance from Westminster Hall to the abbey. A series of processions connected with the exercise of the royal authority were formed, and walked down the nave before the arrival of the Queen’s remains. One procession extended the funeral rites beyond the confines of the Order of the Garter, as all of the orders of knighthood were involved, along with the holders of awards for gallantry, and members of the Commonwealth orders.

After the ritual in the abbey, the Queen’s last journey was from London to Windsor. The coffin was returned to the gun carriage and drawn by a naval crew, who took it from Westminster to the Wellington Arch, at the end of Constitution Hill, where it was transferred to the state hearse.

Funeral procession of Queen Elizabeth II

Windsor

The committal service in St George’s Chapel was crafted on familiar lines, with the casket being brought into the quire, and placed before the altar, under the Garter banners. The crown, orb and sceptre were then removed and set on the altar as part of the ritual, whereas in the past the regalia had simply been laid to the side of the altar

The service was conducted by David Conner, the dean of Windsor, and recalled the ceremony in 1952, when his predecessor, Eric Hamilton, along with the canons of the Free Chapel of St George, presented their address to the Queen after she succeeded to the crown. Dean Hamilton and his colleagues had said (Gazette issue 39574):

“Much of your Majesty’s life has been spent in Windsor and we hope the castle may often be graced with your presence in the days to come. May God make your reign long and prosperous and grant your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh happiness and strength for the high service to which he has called you.”

70 years later, after a long reign, and strengthened by the support of the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen’s service came to a close, and King Charles followed precedent, and placed a colour of the Grenadier Guards on his mother’s coffin. The Gazette reported the breaking of the staff or wand of office by the lord chamberlain and, before the archbishop of Canterbury gave the blessing, Garter king of arms pronounced the late Queen’s style and titles, ending with the “sovereign of the Most Noble Order of the Garter” and, as was customary, omitting the monarch’s many other titles.

The unprecedented gathering of foreign heads of state and other dignitaries provided a reminder of the planning, operations and rehearsals that lay behind such a vast undertaking as the ritual to mark the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. In addition to the job of fitting out Westminster Hall, Westminster Abbey and St George’s Chapel, there were matters of regulating public admission, and of providing accommodation, clothing, equipment, and food and drink for the many thousands of men, women and horses who took part in the processions, and the other events.

Then there was the printing and distribution of invitations, matters of precedence and protocol, the provision of tickets and programmes, and the selection of the music and the religious content. There were also significant safety and security measures that needed to be implemented for such an occasion, as well as regulating the traffic on the ground, and the air space (Gazette issue 63859), and providing an adequate power and communications capacity for visiting delegations and international media.

Burial

The Queen’s remains were buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, and a new ledger stone was prepared, which showed a representation of the star of the Order of the Garter under the names of King George and Queen Elizabeth, and below the Garter star the inscription “Elizabeth II 1926-2022” and “Philip 1921-2021”.

The most recent demise of the crown was marked before the end of 2022, as The Gazette reported the latest in a series of coins the Royal Mint has struck to commemorate the death of senior members of the royal family since the issue for Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1998. The first coins to follow the death of a monarch were described in the King’s proclamations of September (Gazette issue 63838) and November (Gazette issue 63873), which authorised the issue of several denominations with different designs.

Ceremonials

The ceremonials that were gazetted in 2024 set out the programmes for the events in London and Windsor, but the text had limitations, as it omitted the names of most of the principal officers who took part, including:

Comptroller, Lord Chamberlain’s Office, Michael Vernon
Director of the Royal Collection, Timothy Knox
Earl Marshal, Duke of Norfolk
Garter King of Arms, David White
Keeper of the Privy Purse, Sir Michael Stevens
Lord Chamberlain, Lord Parker of Minsmere
Lord Great Chamberlain , Lord Carrington
Lord Steward, Earl of Dalhousie
Lyon King of Arms, Joseph Morrow
Master of the Horse, Lord de Mauley
Master of the Household, Vice Admiral Sir Anthony Johnstone-Burt
Private Secretary to the late Queen, Sir Edward Young
Usher of the Black Rod, Sarah Clarke

The 2022 ceremonials also omitted the names of the clergymen who delivered most of the religious content, which lay at the heart of the funeral and committal services, namely the archbishop of Canterbury (Justin Welby), the dean of Westminster (David Hoyle), and the dean of Windsor (David Conner).

Long Walk, Windsor, funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

Honours

The planning work, and the operational delivery, connected with the demise of the crown were recognised through the grant of honours, and The Gazette of March 2023 (Gazette issue 64008) reported awards for managing the transport services in Scotland; for arranging the lying at rest in St Giles’ Cathedral; for flying the royal remains to England; for members of the three bearer parties from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, the Royal Air Force and the Grenadier Guards, and for the naval crew who pulled the state gun carriage. There was also a grand cross of the Victorian Order (GCVO) for the Earl of Dalhousie, for whom the funeral ritual was one of his last jobs as lord steward.

The disparity in the awards conferred on the naval gun crew, which was clear in 1910, was also evident in 2023, as the Royal Victorian Medal was given to ten men of the bearer party from the Royal Regiment of Scotland; 12 members of the air crew and the Royal Air Force bearer party who carried the coffin in Edinburgh, and at RAF Northolt, and the ten Grenadier Guards, and four men of the Royal Horse Artillery, who had the most onerous and public duties to perform in London and at Windsor.

In contrast, more than 140 naval ratings were presented with the same medal for the simple task of transporting the coffin from the abbey to the Wellington Arch but, as always, it had to be remembered that this was the sovereign’s personal medal, and the sovereign had the right to distribute it as he saw fit.

The services of the three clergymen who performed the principal duties at Westminster Abbey and in St George’s Chapel were noticed in due course, but in two cases the honours were conferred after they had played even more prominent and demanding roles at the coronation service in May 2023.

The Gazette reported David Conner’s promotion to the grade of knight grand cross of the Victorian Order (Gazette issue 64129), and the Court Circular explained that he was invested with his insignia at Windsor Castle in July 2023, when the King received him on relinquishing his positions as dean of Windsor and register of the Garter. He had held those offices since 1998, and during that time conducted services for the passing of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret in 2002, and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021.

The New Year honours list of 2024 brought further dignities in the same order, with the grade of knight grand cross for Justin Welby of Canterbury, and that of knight commander for David Hoyle of Westminster (Gazette issue 64269).

The grant of the GCVO reflected a change in policy, in terms of recognising the services of the archbishop of Canterbury, as the more prestigious Royal Victorian Chain had been presented to three of Archbishop Welby’s predecessors after they crowned the sovereign, with awards to archbishops Temple in 1902, Davidson in 1911 and Fisher in 1953. There was also the case of Cosmo Lang, who had received the Chain by the time he crowned the sovereign, and so was granted the grand cross of the Victorian Order in 1937.

The future

The issues that are likely to arise in connection with a future demise of the crown, and in organising later royal funerals and burials, are far from certain, but they are liable to reflect:

the nature of the succession to the crown
the faith, if any, of the successors to the crown
the relationship between the sovereign and the Church of England
the association between the nations of the United Kingdom, and the Commonwealth realms
the current practices for mourning a royal demise
the preference of the deceased and/or their family as between burial or cremation
the space available to house remains in St George’s Chapel or at Frogmore
the appetite of the royal family and the public to erect memorials and mausoleums

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Succession to the Crown: From Charles II to Charles III

Succession to the Crown is essential reading for anyone with a keen interest in the British royal family and provides an excellent and trusted source of information for historians, researchers and academics alike. The book takes you on a journey exploring the coronations, honours and emblems of the British monarchy, from the demise of King Charles II in 1685, through to the accession of King Charles III, as recorded in The London Gazette.

Historian Russell Malloch tells the story of the Crown through trusted, factual information found in the UK's official public record. Learn about the traditions and ceremony engrained in successions right up to the demise of Queen Elizabeth II and the resulting proclamation and accession of King Charles III.

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About the author

Russell Malloch is a member of the Orders and Medals Research Society and an authority on British honours. He authored Succession to the Crown: From Charles II to Charles III, which explores the coronations, honours and emblems of the British monarchy.

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Succession to the Crown: - From Charles II to Charles III (TSO shop)

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