Queen Elizabeth II’s final resting place revealed

Following a private service attended by her family on the night of 19 September, a ledger stone with the late monarch’s name engraved on it was placed in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, a wing of the main chapel.

Her parents’ names—King George VI and Queen Elizabeth—as well as the names of the late Queen and her husband, Prince Philip, are inlaid in brass letters on the slab, which was hand-carved from Belgian black marble. The two royal couples are divided by a garter star, and next to each name are the years of birth and death.

The four royals were members of the Order of the Garter, the country’s most senior order of chivalry that dates back to medieval times and the reign of King Edward III. The group’s members, which include several members of the royal family, former prime ministers, and other influential people, are personally chosen by the sovereign in recognition of an individual’s service to the country. St. George’s Chapel serves as the order’s spiritual home.

Following a lavish state funeral at London’s Westminster Abbey attended by world leaders, the Queen was laid to rest. The first funeral for a British monarch to be televised was watched by more than 26 million people in the UK on Monday.

Prince Philip, the Queen’s 73-year-old husband, passed away in April 2021. His coffin was initially buried in the Royal Vault beneath St. George’s, where it remained until the Queen’s death, when it could be transferred to the memorial chapel. The chapel also serves as the final resting place for Princess Margaret, the Queen’s sister who passed away in 2002.

Windsor Castle and other royal residences have been closed since the monarch passed away on 8September. However, when the castle reopens on 29 September, the general public will be able to visit the Queen’s final resting place.

According to the Royal Collection Trust, some parts of royal residences, including the Queen’s Gallery at Buckingham Palace, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, and the Queen’s Gallery in Edinburgh, Scotland, reopened to visitors on Thursday. However, Buckingham Palace’s summer opening of the State Rooms and Royal Mews will not return this year.

King Charles III’s portrait released by Buckingham Palace

The photograph of the ledger stone comes a day after Buckingham Palace released a new portrait of King Charles III with the sovereign’s signature red boxes.

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“The image was taken in the Eighteenth Century Room at Buckingham Palace last week and shows His Majesty The King carrying out official government duties from The King’s Red Box,” the palace said in a statement.

The red boxes contain important papers from government ministers in the UK and from representatives across the Commonwealth and beyond.

“The documents are sent from the Private Secretary’s Office to The King, wherever he may be in residence, in a locked red despatch box,” it added.

At the King’s request, the royal family will observe another week of mourning following the state funeral. According to recent reports, Charles III and the Queen Consort have now travelled back to Scotland to mourn alone.

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