Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle The state funeral is over. The long procession through London has concluded. In a final chapter of the 10 days of official mourning, Queen Elizabeth II will be interred at Windsor Castle. NPR correspondent Eleanor Beardsley is there and joins us now. Eleanor, explain the significance of this place, Windsor Castle, to the queen.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: alright. All things considered, Rachel, she spent her ends of the week here. This was supposed to be her #1 home. It was where she could unwind from her bustling timetable and be encircled by family since they generally live nearby. For instance, William’s home – Kate, their family – they’re, similar to, a 10-minute drive. Likewise, she grew up here. Her girlhood was spent at Windsor. She spent the conflict a long time here. She really made her most memorable radio location from here in 1940 at 14 years old to the offspring of London who must be emptied from the Nazi bombarding of London. What’s more, she and her sister, Margaret, held up out the conflict here also. She adored the immense grounds and the nature, the antiquated trees and backwoods. She rode ponies here at Windsor into her 90s, individuals say.

MARTIN: We hear a plane going overhead. So much pomp and circumstance, security.

BEARDSLEY: Yeah, that’s the – there’s a lot of plane traffic from Heathrow.

MARTIN: It is such a highly choreographed day, Eleanor, right? I mean, every detail has been planned for years. Tell us exactly what’s expected to happen there.

BEARDSLEY: Indeed, the following thing that will occur, Rachel, is the sovereign’s casket will show up and be placed back on that firearm carriage that conveyed her dad’s final resting place. Furthermore, she will make a 2-1/2-mile last ride down what’s known as the Long Walk. The road leads through the Windsor home to the palace doors. Also, Rachel, there are a huge number of individuals who have made an appearance to simply accumulate on the two sides of this street, in this verdant spot with tree-lined. Furthermore, they’re standing by to see her to offer their final appreciation. Furthermore, one of them is grandma Beverly Robinson (ph), who got up at 5 AM and took a vehicle and four trains to be here. She is right here.

BEVERLY ROBINSON: We’ve come from Nottingham. I’m with my son and my two granddaughters. It’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. She’s the queen – always been our queen and going to be our only queen because it’ll be kings after that. So I felt it was a privilege to come.

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle MARTIN: Interesting to hear that particular reflection. The queen will be buried in St. George’s Chapel. I mean, its history goes back nearly 500 years, includes both royal weddings and funerals – her husband’s, in fact, Prince Philip. His funeral was held there last year, right?

BEARDSLEY: Rachel, it was. He kicked the bucket the year before. Furthermore, I couldn’t say whether you recall those striking pictures of the sovereign in isolation at his burial service, sporting dark and wearing a dark facial covering since it was amidst the Coronavirus, you know, pandemic.

MARTIN: Pandemic, right.

BEARDSLEY: That’s right. Philip was – he’s actually been sort of on hold in a royal vault. His body will now be moved to lay with hers. So the love of her life, her husband of 73 years – she will be laid to rest with him in the family chapel this evening.

MARTIN: And it’ll be – as opposed to the great ceremony of today at Westminster Abbey, tonight will be a far more intimate, family-centered affair, correct?

BEARDSLEY: Truth be told. There will be only the regal family and dear companions and the people who served her and furthermore, you know, heads of the Congregation of Britain. Counting her #1 psalms and prayers is going. What’s more, Rachel, there will be a few significant motions that will occur toward the finish of the service, an exceptionally representative motion – the crown goldsmith will eliminate the crown, the staff and the sphere from her coffin to isolate the sovereign from her crown once and for all. And afterward tonight, exceptionally late, there will be a totally confidential function of just her loved ones. What’s more, from that point forward, she will be placed into the vault close by her significant other and furthermore her folks and her sister, Margaret.

MARTIN: NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley reporting from Windsor Castle, where Queen Elizabeth II will be interred later today in a private ceremony. Thank you, Eleanor.

LANGFITT: …It’s likewise, I think, outwardly exceptionally viable. At the front of the parade is the Illustrious Canadian Mounted Police. They’re going down what’s known as the Shopping center. This is a goliath road that prompts Buckingham Royal residence. Furthermore, on the sides are huge Association Jack banners. They could be sails for boats. They’re just huge. Thus when you see this, it’s simply a strikingly English picture. And afterward behind them, you have the Illustrious Aviation based armed forces. Furthermore, Claudia, perhaps you can talk a smidgen about where the coffin has passed up to this point.

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle CLAUDIA JOSEPH: Well, it’s a 1.7-mile walk from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, where we can hear the rhythm of the artillery guns being fired in Hyde Park every 60 seconds and the booming toll of big band. The…

MARTIN: We should just say, I see crowds of people.

LANGFITT: Yeah.

JOSEPH: (Inaudible).

MARTIN: I mean, the actual street is fixed with individuals from the regal gatekeeper. Yet, right behind them are a great many individuals who have needed to demonstrate up hours ahead of time to have the option to get even a brief look at this memorable parade.

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle JOSEPH: And there are even people sort of climbing trees and hanging from statues and anything they can to just catch a glimpse of the procession, which is – well, it’s Britain at its best, really. We’ve got the royal family behind the hearse – the coffin, sorry. The queen’s children and grandchildren and their cousins. And the coffin’s flanked by the king’s bodyguards of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen and Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard and the Royal Company of Archers, all of whom were part of the queen’s own guards. We’ve seen them head past Expansive Asylum through Parliament Square and down Whitehall, past the Cenotaph, where the sovereign checked Recognition Sunday and where – which was flanked by leading figures marshaled by the Regal English Army, which is clearly the old English officers who battled for England – vital. They then went through Pony Gatekeepers Curve.

MARTIN: We should say…

JOSEPH: Sorry.

MARTIN: …This is the final day. This has been a long week for Great Britain.

LANGFITT: It has been.

MARTIN: We’re on the 10th day of official mourning.

LANGFITT: It is. And I think also in terms of spectacle, this is the top. I mean, this kind of a procession – the monarchy does this better than anybody else probably on the planet. And, you know, we see the guards, the royal guards on either side, some of them, of course, wearing those bearskin caps, those bearskin hats, that people, tourists who come to Buckingham Palace, you know, are so familiar with. So this is a lot of iconography or old British iconography, and this is – they’re trying to convey this, not just to the people of the United Kingdom but also the people around the world who are watching.

MARTIN: The Royal Navy pulling the gun carriage…

LANGFITT: Wow.

MARTIN: …Dates back to Queen Victoria, Claudia

JOSEPH: Yeah.

MARTIN: This is a long, long-standing tradition.

JOSEPH: Indeed, yes. That is to say, initially, the firearm carriage had a place with the English armed force. However, when the ponies dashed during Sovereign Victoria’s rule, they moved to the Illustrious Naval force, who presently pull the carriage. So it’s an exceptionally moving sight.

MARTIN: Frank, can you tell us the end of the route? What happens at the end of this procession?

LANGFITT: Well, what will happen is the gun carriage will swing around Buckingham Palace one last time, and then it will come up to the edge of Hyde Park and will be put into a hearse which will drive to Windsor Castle, outside of town, where she’ll be buried at St. George’s.

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle MARTIN: As we observe this procession, we’re going to turn now to NPR’s Eleanor Beardsley, who is at Windsor Castle, awaiting the arrival of the queen’s casket and of the procession. Eleanor, just tell me where exactly you are, what you’re seeing, what the feeling is.

ELEANOR BEARDSLEY, BYLINE: No doubt. Greetings, Rachel. So I’m at a spot called the Long Walk, and this is the 2-1/2-mile road that kind of slices through the Windsor home, its huge woods. Also, there are – and it goes to the castle entryways. Also, in a real sense, a huge number of individuals have been gathering here since the previous evening, setting up camp, some of them coming at 5 AM, to be here when the sovereign’s weapon carriage will really show up and make that 2-1/2-mile last journey to Windsor Palace. Furthermore, this will be the last time for general society to bid farewell, to see her. Meanwhile, they’ve been watching the function from London on monster screens. Furthermore, they’ve quite recently got a couple more hours to hold on until they see her themselves with their own eyes. Furthermore, many individuals said that was vital.

MARTIN: What else have people been sharing with you as they remark on this day, as they – I – no doubt they’re sharing their reflections with you?

BEARDSLEY: Absolutely. She’s just a queen who has just affected so many generations. No one can remember a time without her. And I’ve met soldiers wearing their medals with the queen’s picture on them, telling me how you don’t just swear allegiance to your country; you swear allegiance to your queen. So there’s a very deep-felt emotion for the queen with almost everyone you talk to, that she’s touched everyone’s lives.

MARTIN: Eleanor, can you explain the significance of Windsor? Why is the burial happening there?

BEARDSLEY: Right. Indeed, indeed, she will be covered here this evening in a very – a lot more modest service with the family sometime tonight. In any case, there will be a service at Windsor, at the St. George’s House of prayer at Windsor. This thousand-year-old palace has now been home to 40 rulers. This was supposed to be the sovereign’s #1 home. You know, Windsor Palace was profoundly huge in her life.

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle She spent her childhood here as a girl during the Blitz in World War II. She was evacuated from London with her sister, Margaret. She made her first radio address here at the age of 14 to encourage other London children who had to leave the city. You know, this is a place she came later, you know, during her long reign on weekends to be with family. And it was a place she could actually relax from her heavy schedule. She loved nature. And you have 5,000 acres of extensive forests and ancient trees here. She learned to ride horses here. And, you know, people say she rode horses here at Windsor well into her 90s, Rachel. So it was a very special place for her.

Final chapter of remembrance: Queen Elizabeth will interred at Windsor Castle Also, she will currently be let go close to her significant other, Ruler Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. They were hitched for quite a long time. He kicked the bucket the year before. Furthermore, his coffin has really been kept in an imperial vault hanging tight for this second, where they will be let go next to each other tonight.

MARTIN: In what will be – as opposed to what we are seeing today, the public ceremony very crowded, so many people paying their respects, tonight will be a very private, intimate memorial ceremony, the burial…