Words by Kylie Knight
The Royal Family will be joined by leaders and monarchs from around the world to pay tribute to and farewell Queen Elizabeth II during a service at Westminster Abbey later today.
The State Funeral will take place at 11am local time, 8pm AEST and will be broadcast on the ABC and commercial television networks.
The service is the culmination of a national period of mourning across the United Kingdom during which ordinary people have lined footpaths to farewell their Queen as her coffin made its journey from Scotland to London.
Hundreds of thousands have since paid their respects to the Queen laying-in-state at Westminster Hall this week.
Leaders and monarchs from around the world will also attend, including US President Joe Biden, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Albanese will be joined by Governor General David Hurley and 10 ‘everyday’ Australians selected to accompany them.
National day of mourning
Australia will observe a national day of mourning on Thursday, September 22, to mark the Queen's death. It is a one-off public holiday during which a memorial will be held in the Great Hall at Parliament House.
There are no commemorations planned in the Moreton Bay Region
The Queen's funeral at Westminster Abbey will be the first for a monarch since King George II in 1760, with St George's Chapel in Windsor the usual location.
The Abbey is where the Queen’s father King George VI had his coronation, where she married Prince Phillip and where her coronation was held in 1953.
It is also where the funerals of Princess Diana and the Queen Mother were held.
After the service, the Queen's coffin will be brought from London to St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, where she will be laid to rest with her late husband, Prince Philip who died in April last year.
He was in the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel and will be moved beside The Queen when she is interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel.
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