BSS :
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will take place at Westminster Abbey, the historic church in central London which has played a major role in her life.
In her first major appearance at Westminster Abbey, the eight-year-old princess Elizabeth of York was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her uncle prince George, duke of Kent, and princess Marina of Greece and Denmark on November 29.
It was the first royal wedding to be broadcast by radio. King George VI was crowned on May 12, five months after his brother King Edward VIII abdicated.
“I thought it all very, very wonderful,” the 11-year-old princess Elizabeth said in a handwritten account. “At the end the service got rather boring as it was all prayers.” Afterwards, Elizabeth and her sister Margaret helped themselves to “sandwiches, stuffed rolls, orangeade, and lemonade”.
The November 20 wedding lifted some of the post-war gloom. Having renounced his Greek and Danish titles, Philip was created the Duke of Edinburgh. The ceremony was broadcast by BBC radio to 200 million people around the world.
So soon after World War II, Philip’s three surviving sisters, who married German princes, could not attend. Princess Elizabeth still needed ration coupons to buy the satin for her Norman Hartnell dress.
The June 2 coronation saw Queen Elizabeth make the sacred vows of lifelong service that she upheld throughout her reign.
It was the first televised coronation and for many it was the first time they had watched TV.
Some 27 million out of Britain’s 36 million population did so. It was also filmed in colour and experimental 3D.The service lasted almost three hours. Some 8,251 guests attended, crammed into temporary tiers, while 129 nations and territories were officially represented.
The queen was last at the abbey in March, for a delayed memorial service to her late husband Prince Philip, who died in April 2021, aged 99.
But her appearance was overshadowed by the sight of her second son Prince Andrew helping her to her seat, despite outrage over his settlement of a US civil claim for sexual assault.
