Communal leaders amongst mourners at the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl joined 2000 mourners, including UK and world leaders, for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey.

The Board’s President led the Procession of Religious Representatives as the group took up their places in the naive and the sacrarium area of the abbey.

“It was a great honour, on behalf of the Board of Deputies to be able to represent the UK’s Jewish community at today’s deeply moving funeral service at Westminster Abbey,” Mrs van der Zyl later told Jewish News.

“Two thousand people there, along with millions watching worldwide, paid tribute to Her Majesty and honoured her remarkable life.

“May her memory be for a blessing.”

Rabbi Mirvis was also among the group, which included representatives from the Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Baha communities.

Rabbi Charley Baginsky, CEO of Liberal Judaism, was also in attendance representing Liberal Judaism,  while Rabbi Kathleen Middleton represented Reform Judaism.

Lord David Wolfson QC also later said it was a “privilege” for him to be inside the famous abbey for the funeral.

AJEX patron, the Vice Admiral The Right Honourable The Lord Sterling of Plaistow GCVO CBE, was also in the procession on Monday representing worldwide all members of the Royal Victorian Order.

Amongst the world leaders to attend the funeral was Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog, joining world leaders including US president Joe Biden, Canadian President Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Alongside current UK Prime Minister Liz Truss, and Labour leader Keir Starmer, former leaders John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Theresa May and Boris Johnson also attended along with their spouses.

At the start of the service, the five Sentences, lines of scripture set to music, were sung as they have been at every state funeral since the early part of the 18th century.

A bell in Westminster Abbey had tolled 96 times, counting out the years of the Queen’s long life.

A gun carriage carried the Queen’s coffin to the Abbey at 10:44am, towed by 142 sailors from the Royal Navy.

King Charles III, his sister Princess Anne, and his brothers, Princes Andrew and Edward could be seen following the Queen’s coffin into the bbey.

Also following were Princes William and Harry, and Peter Phillips, who’s the son of Princess Anne and one of the Queen’s other grandsons.

Following behind them were other senior male royals: the Queen’s cousin the Duke of Gloucester, her nephew the Earl of Snowdon and Anne’s husband Sir Tim Laurence.

Prince George and his seven-year-old sister Princess Chalotte also walked  behind their great-grandmother’s coffin.

During the service a specially commissioned choral piece, composed by the master of the king’s music, Judith Weir, Like As the Hart, was said to be inspired by “Her Majesty’s unwavering Christian faith”, and is a setting of Psalm 42 to music.

Among the hymns chosen were The Day Thou Gavest, Lord and The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want, which was also sung at the wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in 1947, and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.

A short anthem, O Taste and See How Gracious the Lord Is, was composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams for the Queen’s coronation in 1953.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will deliver the sermon. The prime minister, Liz Truss, will read from John 14: 1–9a. And the secretary general of the Commonwealth, Lady Scotland, will read from 1 Corinthians 15: 20-26.

After the Last Post, a two-minute silence and the reveille, the National Anthem was sung. The service ended  with the Queen’s piper, Paul Burns, playing Sleep, Dearie, Sleep.

Afterwards, the bells of Westminster Abbey were  rung, fully muffled, as is the tradition following the funeral of the sovereign.

After the service, a second procession took the Queen’s coffin through London and on to Windsor Castle.

During a final rendition of God Save The King, Charles looked close to tears.

Ahead of the funeral, the King  said he had been “deeply touched” by public support for him and his family

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