Queen Elizabeth II’s final resting place revealed in new Windsor Castle photograph
By Max Foster, Sana Noor Haq and Jorge Engels, CNN
Buckingham Palace has released a photograph of Queen Elizabeth II’s final resting place within St. George’s Chapel following her interment in Windsor on Monday.
An engraved ledger stone featuring the name of the late monarch was installed in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, an annex to the main chapel, on Monday evening after a private service attended by her family.
The slab is hand-carved from Belgian black marble and features brass letter inlays reading the names of her parents — King George VI and Queen Elizabeth — followed by the late Queen’s name along with that of her husband, Prince Philip. A garter star separates the two royal couples, and the years of birth and death have been inscribed next to each name.
The four royals were members of the Order of the Garter, the country’s most senior order of chivalry that dates back to medieval times and the reign of King Edward III. The group’s members are personally chosen by the sovereign in recognition of an individual’s service to the nation and includes several members of the royal family, former prime ministers and other senior figures. The order’s spiritual home is St. George’s Chapel.
The Queen was laid to rest, after an elaborate state funeral at London’s Westminster Abbey attended by leaders from across the world. More than 26 million people in the United Kingdom tuned in to watch the funeral service on Monday, the first to be televised for a British monarch.
When the Queen’s husband of 73 years Prince Philip died in April 2021, his coffin was initially placed in the Royal Vault, set below St. George’s, where it remained until it could be relocated to the memorial chapel upon the Queen’s death. 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 within 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 displays 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 with the sovereign’s signature red boxes.
The image was taken by Britain’s PA Images and shows Charles at work last week.
“The image was taken in the Eighteenth Century Room at Buckingham Palace last week and shows His Majesty The King carrying out official government duties from The King’s Red Box,” the palace said in a statement.
The red boxes contain important papers from government ministers in the UK and from representatives across the Commonwealth and beyond.
“The documents are sent from the Private Secretary’s Office to The King, wherever he may be in residence, in a locked red despatch box,” it 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 gift to the couple from King George VI in 1951.
The royal family are observing a further week of mourning after the state funeral at the King’s request. Charles III has now reportedly returned to Scotland with the Queen Consort to grieve privately.
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CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse and Christian Edwards contributed reporting.
