King Charles and Camilla,
Queen Consort, along with other members of the family, took their seats in the
chapel’s quire after the coffin of Her Majesty the Queen was brought in by the
bearer party.
The new monarch and Queen
Consort sat on the far right-hand side of the second row while directly in
front of them was an empty seat. The reason for the empty space is a matter of
protocol: to ensure that the monarch has a clear and unobstructed view of
the service.
Other events prior to the
Queen’s death saw a similar occurrence. During the wedding of Princess Eugenie
and Jack Brooksbank, Her Majesty and the late Prince Philip sat in
the second row with an empty seat in front, while the Duke of York and Sarah,
Duchess of York, sat directly next to the unoccupied space.
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King Charles had an empty seat in front of him during the Windsor service
The same was done at Prince
Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in May although, at the time, rumours
falsely swirled that the groom had wanted to keep the seat empty to honour of
his late mother Princess Diana.
The State Hearse halted at the
bottom of the West Steps shortly before 4pm during the Coffin Procession,
with the royals in tow, entered the Chapel. King Charles, Camilla, Princess
Anne and Prince Andrew once again followed their mother’s coffin into the
chapel, with the Prince and Princess of Wales and their two elder children,
Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
The service took place at St
George’s Chapel in Windsor
The Service was led by The
Right Reverend David Conner, KCVO, Dean of Windsor. After the prayers and
hymns, the Dean of Windsor, will do a Reading of Revelation 21.1-7. Other
ministers will read various prayers, including The Lord’s Prayer.
There was then a Committal
where the coffin is lowered as the Dean of Windsor reads The Psalm, 103. 13-7.
Shortly after, the Archbishop of Canterbury pronounced the Blessing.
