Britain and the world say farewell to Queen Elizabeth II

LONDON: Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest on Monday in a grand state funeral attended by world leaders and a historic final procession through the packed streets of London.

The longest-serving monarch in British history died at the age of 96 at Balmoral, his Scottish Highland retreat, on September 8 after a year of ill health.

The last official funeral in Britain was that of Winston Churchill, the country’s wartime prime minister, in 1965.

Afterward, the cranes that once unloaded the wealth of Britain’s vast empire that Elizabeth had inherited, her coffin was transported by barge to the River Thames.

In the six decades since, Britain’s global reach has waned and its place in the modern world has become assured.

But the country will still dig deep into its centuries of tradition to honor the only monarch most Britons have ever known.

Many civilians camped out throughout the day to witness the elaborate spectacle of Campantry and pay their last respects.

After the funeral, the Queen’s flag-draped coffin, along with the Royal Imperial State Crown, will be carried west to Windsor Castle.

He will be buried alongside his father King George VI, his mother Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and sister Princess Margaret, reuniting in death the family that once called themselves “the four of us”.

The coffin of her husband Prince Philip, who died last year at the age of 99, will also be moved to lie next to her.