发信人: jill00_2002(Jill)
整理人: dearxue(2002-04-10 23:31:41), 站内信件
|
According to the BBC operation, the Royal Queen Mother's funeral will be held on this Tuesday in Westminster Abbey.
Behind-the-scenes preparations for the Queen Mother's funeral are continuing around the clock, to ensure everything goes according to plan when it is held on Tuesday.
Participants including Westminster Abbey choristers, Army pipers and those involved in the moving of the Queen Mother's coffin have rehearsed their roles.
Security preparations for the service and procession are being finalised and work on an arrangement of 2,000 individual flowers inside the abbey is well underway.
Buckingham Palace says the full ceremonial service will be traditional, although there two "informal and gentle" prayers aimed at reflecting the Queen Mother's character are also included.
The outline of the service had been approved by the Queen Mother, and includes hymns and readings which were among her favourites.
Members of the Royal Family have added their own touches, including a reading of a poem, The Gate of the Year, first recited to the nation by her husband George VI at the outbreak of war in 1939.
Royal guests
The cortege will be led down the aisle of Westminster Abbey by its choir, which has been working hard to ensure it lives up to the occasion.
Choirmaster and organist James O'Donnell said the 22 boys of the choir were well prepared for the service and "feel they are doing this for the Royal Family".
Receiver General David Burden, who is in charge of the day-to-day running of the abbey, said: "Our preparation is going very well."
The 2,100 guests will include more than 25 members of European royal families, representatives from Commonwealth countries, friends, staff and family.
Prince Charles's partner Camilla Parker Bowles has also been invited, as has the First Lady of the US, Laura Bush.
Pall bearers
The 1118 BST procession to the abbey from Westminster Hall, where the Queen Mother is lying-in-state, will be small, but grand.
Tuesday's service
0400 BST - Final preparations start
0945 BST - First guests arrive
1118 BST - Procession begins
1130 BST - Coffin arrives at abbey and service begins
1225 BST - Service ends
1230 BST - Coffin placed in hearse
1235 BST - Cars leave for Windsor
1245 BST - RAF fly over Buckingham Palace
1350 BST - Coffin interred in St George's Chapel, Windsor
It will be led by 128 pipers, with nine members of her family, including the Princess Royal and Princes William and Harry, walking behind.
Pall bearers from the Irish Guards will again carry the Queen Mother's coffin, surmounted by her diamond-encrusted crown, to and from its gun carriage.
The Queen will be the last of the guests to arrive at the Abbey ahead of the coffin, accompanied by several other members of the Royal Family.
Westminster Abbey's tenor bell will toll every minute for 101 minutes before the funeral, which begins at 1130 BST and lasts for about 50 minutes.
Lord's prayer
The service will have an ecumenical element, with Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, taking part.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Dean of Westminster, the Moderator of the Free Churches Council, and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, will also participate.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, will deliver the sermon and say the blessing, which will be followed by The Last Post and Reveille.
Prayers will include The Lord's Prayer, a prayer from the Book of Common Order of the Church of Scotland, and a special prayer for the Queen Mother.
The service will conclude with the National Anthem after which the funeral cortege and procession will leave the Abbey.
The Prince of Wales will then accompany the hearse to Windsor, where in a private service the Queen Mother will be buried beside her late husband George VI in St George's Chapel.
The Royal Air Force Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, of vintage Spitfires, Hurricanes and Lancasters, will fly over Buckingham Palace and The Mall as the coffin is taken on its final journey to Windsor.
On Wednesday, the Queen's wreath to her mother of white roses and sweet peas, adorning the coffin, will be placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Westminster Abbey.
This reflects a spontaneous gesture by the Queen Mother on her wedding day at the Abbey, when she placed her bouquet on the tomb.
Closures
Many businesses and services will be shut for part of the day on Tuesday.
Some supermarkets will be closed during the service, as will the London Stock Exchange.
All horse racing events have been cancelled, and all courts in England and Wales will be closed.
The National Trust will shut all its houses, shops and restaurants in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and London Flower Show has been cancelled. |
|