This is the first picture of the new simple black marble slab featuring the name of the late Queen as she lays beside her beloved husband Prince Philip.
The exclusive image emerged after worshippers were allowed into King George VI Memorial Chapel earlier this week for church services following Her Majesty's moving private burial on Monday night.
Her name was inscribed alongside that of her father George VI, Elizabeth the Queen Mother and that of her late husband who died last year at the age of 99.
It is the first time the names of the Queen and Philip have been seen together in the King George VI memorial chapel on the black Belgian marble, as a previous image released in 2002 only showed the gold lettering for George VI and the Queen Mother along with the dates of their birth and death.
In order, it reads George VI 1895-1952, Elizabeth 1900-2002, Elizabeth II 1926-2022, Philip 1921-2021. Between the two couples is a single metal Garter Star, the insignia of the Order of the Garter, the country's oldest and most noble order of chivalry.
All four were members of the order and St George's Chapel, where the memorial chapel is situated, is its spiritual home.
In a touching tribute the wreath - which was seen by billions across the world during last Monday's historic funeral service - and was personally selected by King Charles lies next to the black stone in the side chapel at St George's which is set to reopen fully to the public next week.
The flowers in the wreath are, in shades of pink, deep burgundy, white and gold, to reflect the Royal Standard, and include pelargoniums, roses, autumnal hydrangea, sedum, dahlias and scabious.
In a touching tribute the wreath (pictured, on top of the coffin on Monday) made up by King Charles lies next to the black stone in the side chapel at St George's which is set to reopen fully to the public next week
There is also rosemary, for remembrance, myrtle, a symbol of happy marriage, and English oak, which symbolises the strength of love.
A woman who took the picture on Wednesday had been at a service in the chapel. She said: 'I went in there for a prayer service and was luckily enough to be able to view the final resting place of Her Majesty.
'As you can imagine it was very moving to be able to pay my respects to our beloved Queen. I recognised the stone from pictures I'd seen in the media over the funeral period but I soon realised that the names of the Queen and Prince Philip had since been added.
'It was very moving to see their names like that and think of them together for eternity. And I feel extremely fortunate to have been among the first members of the public to have been able to see this.
'I'm sure others will want to travel to see this in the future as it's such a simple but beautiful motif - and so many millions of people were so moved by the Queen's death.'
Attendees were left stunned after being told at the start there would be 'an opportunity to see the late Queen's resting place'. One visitor was seen mouthing to a woman next to her: 'Oh my gosh ! That's amazing.'
The 30-minute service also featured prayers for King Charles and the congregation was asked to remember him and other members of the Royal Family at 'this mournful time'.
Her Majesty was interred alongside her husband, Prince Philip, and her parents King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Pictured: A stone in the George VI Memorial Chapel at St George's Chapel in Windsor, where the Queen Mother was laid to rest in 2002
Following the conclusion of evensong worshippers, were invited forward to walk through the historic chapel and past the slab on which the Queen's coffin rested on Monday and which then lowered into the vault.
Gathered from the gardens at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House, the King made the wreath was made up without floral foam but a nest of English moss to ensure sustainability.
The official Royal Family Twitter account revealed that, at The King's request, the myrtle included in the wreath is cut from a plant grown from the sprig of myrtle that was in The Queen's wedding bouquet in 1947.
Gardener and TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh told the BBC: 'Our history was in that wreath. There were oak leaves there. There are oak trees in Great Windsor Park that were growing when William the Conqueror invaded in 1066. Some of them are still there.'
The fresh stone now says, in list form, 'George VI 1895-1952' and 'Elizabeth 1900-2002' followed by a metal Garter Star, and then 'Elizabeth II 1926-2022' and 'Philip 1921-2021'.
All four royals were members of the Order of the Garter, which has St George's Chapel as its spiritual home.
When Philip died 17 months ago, his coffin was interred in the royal vault of St George's, ready to be moved to the memorial chapel - a pale stone annex added on to the north side of the building behind the North Quire Aisle in 1969 - when the Queen died.
Other floral tributes seen in the chapel were also from last Monday's funeral service and thought to have come from other members of the Royal Family as well as household staff.
The new slab was laid immediately after last Monday's funeral service and St George's Chapel opened again for regular church services on Wednesday.
One photo below.
Comments
Post a Comment