Buckingham Palace has released a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II’s final resting place in St George’s Chapel after her burial in Windsor on Monday.
An engraved register stone bearing the late monarch’s name was installed in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, an annex to the main chapel, on Monday evening after a private service attended by his family.
The slab is hand carved from Belgian black marble and features inlays of brass letters reading the names of her parents – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth – followed by the late Queen’s name as well as that of her husband. , Prince Philip. A garter star separates the two royal couples, and the years of birth and death have been listed next to each name.
All four members of the royal family were members of the Order of the Garter, the country’s oldest order of chivalry which dates back to medieval times and the reign of King Edward III. Members of the group are personally chosen by the Sovereign in recognition of an individual’s service to the nation and include several members of the Royal Family, former Prime Ministers and other VIPs. The spiritual home of the order is St. George’s Chapel.
The Queen was laid to rest after an elaborate state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London, which was attended by world leaders. More than 26 million people in the UK tuned in to watch the funeral service on Monday, the first to be televised for a British monarch.
When the Queen’s 73-year-old husband Prince Philip died in April 2021, his coffin was first placed in the Royal Vault, located under St. George’s, where it remained until may be moved to the Queen’s Death Memorial Chapel. The ashes of the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, who died in 2002, are also interred in the chapel.
Royal residences, including Windsor Castle, have been closed since the monarch’s death on September 8. But the general public will be able to visit the queen’s resting place when the castle reopens on September 29.
Some areas of the royal residences reopened to tourists on Thursday, including the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, according to the Royal Collection Trust. However, Buckingham Palace’s summer opening of the State Rooms and Royal Mews will not return this year.
Additionally, special exhibitions marking the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse will not reopen to the public, the trust added.
The photograph of the Ledger Stone comes a day after Buckingham Palace released a new portrait of King Charles III featuring the sovereign’s signature red boxes.
The image was taken by UK firm PA Images and shows Charles at work last week.
“The image was taken in the 18th Century Room at Buckingham Palace last week and shows His Majesty the King performing official government duties from the King’s Red Box,” the palace said in a statement.
The red boxes contain important documents from UK government ministers and representatives from the Commonwealth and beyond.
“Documents are sent from the office of the private secretary to the king, wherever he is in residence, in a locked red dispatch box,” he added.
In the background behind the new monarch is a black and white photograph of the late monarch and Duke of Edinburgh, which was a Christmas present to the couple from King George VI in 1951.
The royal family observes another week of mourning after the state funeral at the request of the king. Charles III is now said to have returned to Scotland with the Queen Consort to mourn in private.