State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II - Order of Service

Westminster Abbey. Photo by Charles Postiaux on Unsplash

Source: Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace last night published the Order of Service for the State Funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II, which will be held in Westminster Abbey today. (Monday 19th September 2022).

The service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, who will say in his Bidding: "In grief, to this House of God and House of Kings, where Queen Elizabeth was married and crowned, we have come from across the nation, from the Commonwealth, and from the nations of the world, to mourn our loss, to give thanks to almighty God for her long life, and lovingly, confidently to entrust her immortal soul to the mercy of God, our Maker and Redeemer."

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Justin Welby, will preach the sermon and will lead the commendation.

Among the hymns will be The day thou gavest, Lord, is ended; The Lord's my shepherd, which was sung at the wedding of the late Queen when she married HRH The Duke of Edinburgh in the Abbey in 1947; and Love divine, all loves excelling, in an arrangement first sung at the wedding of TRH The Prince and Princess of Wales in the Abbey in 2011.

Like as the hart, a setting of Psalm 42 by Master of the King's Music, Judith Weir, and the anthem Who shall separate us?, drawing on words from Romans 8, by Sir James MacMillan, have both been composed specially for the service.

The Right Honourable The Baroness Scotland KC, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth will read from Corinthians 15; and the Right Honourable Elizabeth Truss MP, the Prime Minister, will read John 14: 1 - 9a.

Prayers will be led by the Abbey's Precentor, the Reverend Mark Birch, and will be said by representatives of the churches of the United Kingdom.

Last Post will be sounded by the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry, before a two-minute silence observed in the Abbey and throughout the United Kingdom.

The service will be sung by the Choirs of Westminster Abbey and His Majesty's Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, under the direction of James O'Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey.

The service will be broadcast on television, on radio and online in the UK, the Commonwealth and in countries around the world.

Download the Order of Service HERE