Will Prince George and Princess Charlotte join Queen Elizabeth's funeral procession? Role of William and Kate's children explored

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Prince George and Princess Charlotte attend the Queen Elizabeth
Prince George and Princess Charlotte attend the Queen Elizabeth's funeral service (via Twitter/@dianapearl_)

Kate Middleton and Prince William's oldest children will attend Queen Elizabeth's funeral at Westminster Abbey with their parents. Prince George and Princess Charlotte, who are second and third in line to the throne, respectively, will join 2000 people at Westminster Abbey to say goodbye to their great grandmother.

According to the funeral's order of service, the Prince and Princess will attend Queen Elizabeth's state burial. The royal children also attended a Westminster Abbey memorial ceremony for their great-grandfather Prince Philip in March.

George and Charlotte's younger sibling, Prince Louis, 4, is unlikely to attend the funeral of the late Queen, whom the children called "Gan Gan," with the rest of the family.

George and Charlotte will follow their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales as they walk together. They will be followed by Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Harry, as well as other members of the Royal Family.

All of them will follow the military bearer's entourage as they carry the Queen's casket in a procession.

Prince William and Princess Kate will go directly behind the coffin and will be followed by the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Lawrence. The Earl and Countess of Wessex, and King Charles and the Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles will follow them.

Following the ceremony in the heart of London, the Prince and Princess are both expected to attend the committal service at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.


Queen Elizabeth's funeral: Order of service

Details of Queen Elizabeth's funeral service have been made public and they include the music that will have Warrant Officer Class 1 (Pipe Major) Paul Burns, the Queen's Piper, playing the classic lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.

The tenor bell will ring 96 times before the ceremony, representing the years of the Queen's life. The Very Reverend Dr. David Hoyle MBE, Dean of Westminster, is leading the ceremony and also delivering the benediction.

The Sentences will be performed by the Westminster Monastery choir at the beginning of the service when the Queen's casket is brought inside the abbey. Since the early 18th century, every state burial has incorporated The Five Sentences, a series of verses from the Bible arranged for music.

When the Queen wed the Duke of Edinburgh at the same abbey in 1947, one of the hymns, The Lord's My Shepherd, I'll Not Want, was sung. Other hymns chosen for the occasion are The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended, and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling are to be sung at the funeral.

The Reverend Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland will pronounce prayers for "Queen Elizabeth's long life and reign, recalling with gratitude her gifts of wisdom, diligence, and service".

The State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry will blow the Last Post from the steps of the Lady Chapel at the conclusion of the funeral, at around 11:55 am. The United Kingdom will thereafter observe two minutes of silence.

Before proceeding to Windsor for the committal ritual, Queen Elizabeth's coffin will be carried out of the abbey and carried in a procession to Wellington Arch in Hyde Park Corner. The Westminster Abbey bells will then be rung entirely muffled as is customary after the funeral of the sovereign.

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Edited by Madhur Dave