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CNN Live Event/Special
Queen Mother's Funeral
Aired April 09, 2002 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning from London. I am Christiane Amanpour outside Westminster Abbey, and indeed, outside the Houses of Parliament. We are welcoming you all in the United States and around the world to our coverage of the ceremonial funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
Right now, you are seeing one of the vintage Rolls Royces leaving Buckingham Palace. This one is carrying Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and other royal highnesses, male members of the royal family, who are going to Westminster Hall just behind me. There, they will go to the catafalque, the platform upon which the coffin of Queen Elizabeth has been lying in state for the last several days, and they will prepare there to escort her and to process behind her coffin, which will be carried on a gun carriage the very short distance from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey.
This is getting under way shortly. As I have just said, we have seen the beginning of the procession leave from Buckingham Palace and come here to the Houses of Parliament, the Westminster area, where the funeral service will take place shortly.
We are joined for our coverage by Robert Jobson, royal commentator, and by the Reverend Mark Jones, an Army chaplain, who will help us, guide us through, not just the history of this moment, but also the pageantry and the significance of all the royal bands, all of the music that will be played, the Honor Guards, the Marines, the Air Forces, all members of the different armed services. The Guard of Honor is now, as you can see, in Parliament Square.
Let me bring in Robert Jobson first. You know, Robert, what do you think, if you had to sum it up, what is the significance of the moment that we are witnessing right now?
ROBERT JOBSON, BRITISH ROYAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think this is the passing of not only a great lady, but as a moment in history, the change in the royal family now. That we have looked at the past 100 years, and this is what she has represented. This is the next generation. This is the next part of the royal family's history and movement.
AMANPOUR: As we have been describing, the royal highnesses, as they are called formally, Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of the reining monarch, the son-in-law of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, along with the Queen Mother's grandchildren, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, Prince Edward, the Earl of Wessex, all children of the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II; along also with Viscount Linley, the son of the late Princess Margaret, the queen's sister, who died several weeks ago, and also Mr. Peter Phillips. He is called mister. He is the son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips. Of course, those two are now divorced, but Peter Philips will also be in the procession, which escorts the body of the Queen Mother from the Westminster Hall, where it has been lying in state, to Westminster Abbey, where the funeral service will get under way.
Breaking with tradition, Princess Anne, the queen's only female -- the Queen Mother's only female granddaughter has asked and has been given permission to join the male members of the royal family and join that procession from Westminster Hall behind the gun carriage to Westminster Abbey. Why is this so significant?
JOBSON: Well, I think Princess Anne particularly wanted to do this. She is a lady, who has got an awful lot of spirit, and I think she looked fantastic when she walked with her brothers behind that procession. And I think also it's time for change. Although the Queen Mother was a very traditional lady, this is a time to show the British nation that women can do this as well. I mean, we are here in honor of great lady, and also we have had Queen Elizabeth on the throne for 50 years, and I think it's only right that the princess royal should be able to do and show her respects in this way.
AMANPOUR: Reverend Mark Jones, Army chaplain, who is joining us for our coverage. Give us a sense of some of the military pageantry that's going to be in such evidence today.
REVERAND MARK JONES, BRITISH ARMY CHAPLAIN: The military will have been up very early this morning just doing the final touches, polishing buttons. Indeed, as I left Chelsea Barracks this morning, the guardsmen were up and dusting down their uniforms and getting the busbies (ph), the black helmet, the hat that guardsmen wear, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Canadian bearskin. But certainly the bands are made up of not just of British regiments, but of regiments throughout the Commonwealth. We have Gurkha rifles, the pipes of the Gurkhas. We have South African regiments involved. We have regiments from Canada, New Zealand, Australia and other parts of the Commonwealth and the Dominions.
AMANPOUR: We are seeing some of the dignitaries and invited guests coming into Westminster Abbey. There are, of course, also tens of thousands of people, British people, from all over this country, who have been coming out in droves, really, and queuing for miles, queuing for hours over the weekend, a sunny weekend in England, to come to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
As we just watched, Prince Michael of Kent and his wife, Princess Michael of Kent, go in. We are also seeing Princess Anne there. Can you see Princess Anne dressed in a military uniform, the Navy uniform, so she will be dressed in her military uniform, as she joins the male members of the royal family, the senior male members of the royal family, in that procession behind the gun carriage to Westminster Abbey. But right now, we want to go to Richard Quest, who is standing just outside the north door of Westminster Abbey, to tell us a little bit about what the people there have been saying to him, as they have been waiting so patiently, and just there, of course, the Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Kent, cousins of the current queen, coming into the Westminster Abbey -- Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christiane. Yes, it's an interesting opposite mood. On the front of me, I've got the great west door, where members of the royal family are now starting to enter, and all around in the streets, the thousands of people, who have decided to -- who have spent all night waiting to see what's going to be happening at the Abbey -- Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Richard, we just saw Prince William and Prince Harry, the sons of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, walk in to Westminster Hall and get ready to follow the coffin of their great- grandmother to Westminster Abbey. What have the people been saying? Because they have really poured out to give this tribute. They are not in desperate grief, are they? It's much more an affectionate moment.
QUEST: Absolutely. There are two types. There are those people who have decided to come here, because this is a national occasion. They wanted to be part. After all, things like monarchy make for national identity, and that's why people decided it was worth spending the night, which was a very cold night. I was here in the early hours of the morning, and it was very cold indeed. But they decided to spend 24, 36 hours outside.
And the second group of people are the older group, who remember the Queen Mother from her role in the Second World War, as you have been talking about, who remember how she perhaps saved the monarchy after the abdication crisis in 1937. And indeed, when one thinks of the way in which there has been so much publicity of the younger royals, this is a woman who kept her own counsel, caused no scandal and never put a foot wrong in the best part of 80 years of public life -- Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Richard, thank you. Reverend Jones, tell us what we are seeing coming into Westminster Abbey. It looks to me like all the religious dignitaries.
JONES: That's right. The choirs, the Choir of the Chapel Royal, who sang at the royal weddings, together with the visiting clergy. I know that the minister from Glamis Castle is there, the rector from Sandringham Church, where the Queen Mother spent Christmas, where the royals spent Christmas there, the Bishop of London, who is dean of the Chapels Royal appointed by the queen, and they are all proceeding in to take their place. We see the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Roman Catholic cardinal, Murphy O'Connor, and behind him, the Archbishop of York, David Hope, and shortly the Archbishop of Canterbury.
AMANPOUR: The head of the Church of England, of course, is the queen herself, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is the clerical head of the nation's Protestants.
JONES: Yes, he is, if you like, the branch manager. He is chief executive of the Church of England, I suppose.
AMANPOUR: Now, the Queen Mother herself was a deeply religious person, a devout person, wasn't she?
JONES: She was. She was a woman of deep and lasting faith. She was very spiritual, and she liked a traditional kind of service, and certainly whenever she visited my church, we tried to lay on a traditional service for her, but involving young people.
AMANPOUR: It appears that the gun carriage is getting into position there, Mark. Is that what you see there?
JONES: Yes. Again, the king's troupe -- interestingly, the troupe is walking beside the gun carriage, and the guns, they did these -- the king's troupe, they don't have flags or standards or colors like other British regiments have, but the guns are their colors. And so it's very appropriate that the Queen Mother is being carried on the most important part of their regiment.
AMANPOUR: There we're seeing the part of Westminster Abbey with some of the Queen's cousins and relatives there, some of the dukes, the princesses, duchesses, earls, counts. And as we mentioned, 25 Royal families from around the world will also be represented here today.
JONES: Indeed, this looks like the Queen is actually preparing to leave Buckingham Palace to go en route to the Abbey. It's a slow procession out.
Yes, there are 25 senior Royals from across Europe who, in many ways, related to the Queen Mother, including the King and Queen of Spain, of Sweden, Norway.
And this is the Queen, I think, leaving Buckingham Palace now.
AMANPOUR: Now the Queen herself will clearly not be in the procession that escorts her mother from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, but she will be at the door of Westminster Abbey to greet the coffin. Is that correct?
JONES: She should be standing at the north gate to greet the coffin, and then she will then lead the coffin in with the rest of the Royal Family. They will then escorted to their positions. It will be done in military order, I should think, like anything else in this procession.
AMANPOUR: Well having said that this is all going with military procession, that may have been the moment the Queen was due to leave Buckingham Palace, but that is -- that was apparently not her car, we're being told. So she will be arriving. She has to be, apparently, at the west gate at about three minutes from now, sort of around nowish, but they may be -- as we see proceeding into Westminster Abbey, other Royals are now being seated from, not only from Great Britain, but also from around the world.
Let's give you an idea of who in fact is coming. Princess Ernst of Hannover. Now that's a fancy way of saying Princess Caroline of Monaco who married Prince Ernst August of Hannover several years ago. Prince Albert of Monaco will be here. The Grand Duchess and the Great Duke of Luxembourg. Queen Anne Marie of the Halaynes (ph). That is the old title for the King of Greece. The King and Queen of Greece. Of course they are amongst the ex-monarchs. They were deposed in that colonel's coup in Greece during the '60s. But they, nonetheless, are very close friends of this current Royal Family and very close friends and family.
Now we do see the Rolls Royce, the vintage Rolls Royce carrying the Queen from Buckingham Palace. And you can see she's going around that famous statue just outside Buckingham Palace. She's driving up part way The Mall and will be heading into the Parliament Square area and to Westminster Abbey, which is just where we are right now.
Interestingly, we may have mentioned a little bit earlier, the Queen Mother herself approved most of the details of her own funeral, including she chose personally the first poem that will be read. It is written by someone who's name we do not know. It is anonymous. And of course there's been much scrambling in the last few days by many people who want and think they need to know who wrote this poem. The words sum up, really, what we've come to learn as the Queen Mother's spirit. These are the first couple of versus.
You can shed tears that she is gone or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back or you can open your eyes and see all that she's left.
And, Robert Jobson, that's almost what the Queen herself said in her tribute last night when she was thanking everybody for their outpouring of affection and tribute. She said that her mother had lived a long and eventful and exhilarating life and had seen so much. I mean had seen unbelievable things, the entire span of the 20th century.
JOBSON: Well indeed. When the Queen Mother was a little girl, cars were barely on the streets and yet people were sending condolences by e-mail, which is the span of how things have come.
Yes, I think this poem sums up her life really. She wanted this to be not only for people to mourn her loss and her passing but to celebrate a wonderful life that she had and a life of total events of great history and moments that she enjoyed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As we look at the screen, would that be Countess -- Viscountess Linley?
JOBSON: That looks like Viscountess Linley with the Sophie Wessex, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. And behind them, Prince Andrew's two daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie.
JOBSON: Beatrice and Eugenie, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
Here is the coffin of the Queen Mother, the late Queen Mother, being removed from Westminster Hall just behind where we're sitting. Bells are tolling now, both Big Ben, I think, and in Westminster Abbey. And the coffin is being carried solemnly by the guards who have obviously removed their tall hats. They've been practicing this.
The Queen just emerging from her car. You can hear the applause of people outside as the Queen arrives to await the coffin of her late mother.
Reverend Jones.
JONES: The car that the Queen arrived in was actually the car that the Queen mother had used and has her silver line emblem on the bonnet of the Rolls Royce. And we can see some of the regiments lining the route there, the regiments that the Queen Mother intimately was connected with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the Queen has shown such dignity throughout this. And even her address last night, she was completely in control but there was emotion in her voice as well, but she's shown great stature, I think, as well all this time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And let's not forget that for the Queen herself this has been a particularly sad 2002 because she has lost in quick succession her only sister who was quite ill for many months and her mother whose death was not unexpected, but nonetheless, they are known to have been very, very close.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It must have been awful for the seven-week period to lose these two women who were so important guiding her through the last 50 years. It must have been very difficult for her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now, again, we are outside Westminster Hall. And we can see -- we just saw the picture of the senior members of the Royal Family, male members, along with Princess Anne, the only female member, getting ready for that short journey of procession from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey where the Queen is now walking up the main aisle as she gets ready to be seated in her position for the funeral service.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Accompanying the Queen there on the left is her private secretary, her most senior aide, Sir Robin Jamberin (ph), who is -- who is her manager, if you'd like, the man who looks after everything that she does.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Perhaps here we should just tell our viewers in the United States and around the world that despite what looks like an acronistic (ph) institution, and despite all that we've heard over the years of the British people wanting to get rid of this monarchy, the fact remains as we watch now Prince Charles, behind him his eldest son Prince William, and the other male members start to walk slowly behind... (MUSIC)
AMANPOUR: It is a dramatic sight indeed, as we listen to the lament played by the masked (ph) drums and pipes. We see that dramatic sight, really, of her four grandchildren and her son-in-law dressed in their military uniforms, all except for the Earl of Wessex. And behind the four males, great grandchildren; and behind them, civilians, who happen to be part of the Royal Protection Squad. They are the prince's guards.
On top of the coffin -- on top of the coffin we see the wreath of white roses that the Queen Elizabeth II put for (ph) her mother's coffin, and they have been there for the last several days. They will be placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier tomorrow, the day after the funeral service. Also placed on top of the coffin, the crown that the queen wore at the coronation of her husband, King George VI. And she herself being crowned as his consort.
Richard Quest is outside the north door now and probably has a direct line of sight to what we're seeing on our television screen.
QUEST: The Royal Highland Fusileers (ph), the king's own Scottish borders (ph), the Royal Irish Regiment, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Regiment, and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Rifles, to name just a few of the 160 plus pipers. The masked (ph) piped fans (ph) of the British Armed Forces now moving forward.
The drums half muffled in a memorial for the Queen Mother, as they turn towards the great west door, followed by the funeral portage itself. And the gun carriage -- the gun carriage pulled by the king's troop, the Royal Horse Artillery, with the coffin covered in the royal standard of the Queen Mother, combining the royal flag and those of the Bowes-Lyons -- Christiane.
AMANPOUR: Prince Charles, her grandson, who is counted amongst her most cherished relatives. And, certainly, he in his tribute to her, called her one of his most cherished and beloved family members. He made a very warm and personal tribute to her shortly after her death.
But as we see all this pageantry, I want to just remind everybody what I was beginning to say before this procession started. That this is a country that so wants to keep its monarchy. There have been many ups and downs. There have been many moments when questions have been raised about the relevance of a monarchy in today's world. There have been many questions raised about the propriety of this royal family.
But the Queen Mother herself exemplified everything that the British establishment expects from a royal queen and a Queen Mother. And she herself is considered by many people in this country, along with the queen, the reigning monarch, to have almost single-handedly upheld the standards of this monarchy throughout, as we say, most of this century.
And the British people, in poll after poll over the last 30 years, have maintained their support for keeping the monarchy despite, as I say, the ups and downs that have come over the years and the questions that have been raised over the possibility of abolishing the monarchy. The latest poll that was taken shortly after this Queen Mother died over the Easter weekend showed that an overwhelming majority wanted to keep the monarchy and 54 percent to keep the monarchy just as it is -- let's listen to the tolling bells.
The coffin will now be removed from the gun carriage and carried inside the abbey. As we watch this solemn moment of the coffin of the late Queen Mother being taken by the pallbearers inside Westminster Abbey, we just saw a salute from her grandchildren, including Princess Anne. And the coffin will go past the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, is that correct, reverend?
JONES: It is. After the first World War in 1920, the -- a soldier was brought back from the first world war in France and laid to commemorate all soldiers, sailors and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) who died in the first war. And the Queen Mother, the first royal wedding to leave after the tomb had been laid, put her posy from her wedding. And each year she has always left flowers there.
And as you mentioned earlier, the wreath of roses and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from her majesty the Queen, will then be taken after the burial service and laid at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
AMANPOUR: Prince Charles awaits the procession up the main aisle of Westminster Abbey. And then the funeral service will begin, and it will be marked by some of her most favorite (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and bible readings, by poems and prayers. And it will end with a very personal tribute.
There, Princess Anne, the Queen Mother's granddaughter, who, as we said, is dressed in her Royal Navy military uniform, and broke with tradition, a tradition that up until now has not seen a female member of the royal family walk behind this kind of procession or any other.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christiane, it shows that she was right. Look at how wonderfully smart she looks, and she looks exactly right in that position, I think.
(CHOIR SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In gratitude, we bid farewell to a greatly loved queen, for her grace, humanity and sympathy, for her courage in adversity, for the happiness she brought to so many, for her steadfast pilgrimage of faith, for her example of service, and for the duty which she rendered unflinchingly to her country. We thank and praise almighty God. As we commend Elizabeth, his servant to God's mercy, let us especially pray for her family in their loss.
We give them back to thee, dear Lord, who gave them to us. Yet as thou dost not lose them in giving, so we have not lost them by their return, not as the world giveth, givest thou, oh lover of souls. What they gavest, thou takest not away for what is thine is ours always if we are (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And life is eternal and love is immortal, and death is only a horizon, and horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thy shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. While the sun or the light or the moon or the stars be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain.
In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened and the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low.
And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of music shall be brought low. Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high and fear shall be in the way and the almond tree shall flourish and the grasshopper shall be a burden and desire shall fail because man goeth to his long home and the mourners go about the streets. Or ever the silver cord be loosed or the golden bowl be broken or the pitcher be broken at the fountain or the wheel broken at the cistern, then shall the dust return to the earth as it was and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So that was a reading from Ecclesiastes. And next will be the choir of Westminster Abbey singing the Psalm 121.
(CHOIR SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now the second reading from Revelation will be read by Cardinal (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Murphy-O'Connor.
CARDINAL MURPHY-O'CONNOR: A great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands. And cried with a loud voice saying, "Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb."
And all the angels stood round about the throne and about the elders and the four living creatures. And fell before the throne on their faces and worshiped God saying, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen!"
And one of the elders answered saying unto me, "What are these which are arrayed in white robes and whence came they?"
And I said unto him, "Sir, thou knowest."
And he said to me, "These are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore, neither shall the sun light on them nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them onto living fountains of waters and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." (SINGING)
REV. GEORGE CAREY, LORD ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY: In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
We gather in this great abbey to mourn and to give thanks. It's a fitting place to do so. A place where the story of our nation and the story of the woman we now commend to her heavenly father are intertwined.
It was here that Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was married and became Duchess of York. It was here that she was crowned queen. It was here, that as Queen Mother, she attended the coronation of her daughter. It is fitting, then, that a place that stood at the center of her life should now be the place where we honor her passing.
In the 10 days since she left us there have been countless tributes and expressions of affection and respect, including those of the many who have queued and filed patiently past her coffin lying in state. How should we explain the numbers? Not just by the great length of her life painlessly lived to the full. It has to do with her giving of herself so readily and openly.
There was a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in George Eliot's lovely phrase, "The sweet presence of a good diffused," like the sun, she bathed us in her warm glow. Now that the sun has set and the cool of the evening has come, some of the warmth we absorbed is flowing back towards her.
If there's one verse of scripture which captures her best, it is perhaps the description of a gracious woman in the final chapter of the book of proverbs. It says, "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." Strength, dignity and laughter, three great gifts which we honor and celebrate today.
The Queen Mother's strength as a person was expressed best through her remarkable dealings with people. Her ability to make all human encounters, however fleeting, feel both special and personal. As her eighth archbishop of Canterbury, I can vouch for that strength.
Something of it is reflected in the fact that for half a century we knew her and understood her as the Queen Mother. It's a title whose resonance lies less in its official status than in expressing one of the most fundamental of all roles and relationships. That of simply being a mother, a mum, the Queen Mum.
For her family, that maternal strength given across the generations to children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, has been a precious gift and a blessing. Its loss is felt keenly today. And as they grieve, we say to the queen and to Prince Philip, to Charles and Andrew, Edward, David and Sarah as grandchildren, and to all their children, you are in our thoughts and cradled in our prayers and those of countless millions around the world.
The very first letter Elizabeth wrote on becoming queen in the traumatic and daunting circumstances of 1936 was to one of my predecessors of archbishop of Canterbury. He gives a further insight into the source of her strength. She wrote, "I can hardly believe that we have been called to this tremendous task. And the curious thing is, we are not afraid." With her openness to people, indeed as part of it, came a quiet courage. A courage manifest in wartime and widowhood; a courage that endured to the end.
Strength, dignity and laughter, they were certainly nothing remote or distant about her own sense of dignity, her smile, her wave, the characteristic tilt of her head, all made the point immediately and beyond words. It was a dignity that rested not on the splendid trappings of royalty, but on a sense of the nobility of service.
On their wedding day here, the archbishop of York spoke to the newly married couple of their life together. "We cannot resolve that it shall be happy," he said. "But you can and will resolve that it shall be noble." And indeed it was. An unfailing sense of service and duty made it so.
It was a commitment nourished by the Queen Mother's Christian faith. A faith that taught her, as it tells us all, that even the son of God came into the world as a servant, not as a master. Strength, dignity and, yes, laughter.
We come here to mourn, but also to give thanks. To celebrate the person and her life. Both filled with such a rich sense of fun and joy and the music of laughter.
With it went an immense vitality that didn't fail her. Hers was a great old age, but not a cramped one. She remained young at heart, and the young themselves sensed that.
Of course, the laughter of the book of proverbs goes deeper than a good joke or a witchy reply. She laughs at the time to come. Such laughter reflects an attitude of confident hope in the face of adversity and the unpredictable challenges of life.
Of this laughter, too, the Queen Mother new a great deal. It was rooted in the depth and simplicity of her abiding faith that this life is to be lived to the full, as a preparation for the next. Her passing was truly an Easter death, poised between Good Friday and Easter Day.
In the light of the promise that Easter brings, we will lay her to rest knowing that the same hope belongs to all who trust in the one who is the resurrection and the life. Strength, dignity, laughter, three special qualities earthed in her Christian faith. Qualities that clothed her life so richly; qualities that with her passing we too, by the grace of almighty God, may seek to put on afresh in our own lives and the life of our nation and that of the world. Let that be part of her legacy to us. Part of our tribute to her.
But let me add just one final thing. For the book of proverbs has more to say about a gracious woman, we can summon now as we commend to her heavenly father his faithful servant Elizabeth, Queen, Queen Mother, Queen Mum, deeply loved and greatly missed. It simply says this of a woman of grace: "Many have done excellently, but you exceed them all."
(MUSIC)
(NEWS ALERT)
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, let's return to CNN's special coverage of the funeral of the Queen Mother, anchored by CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
(IN PROGRESS)
(CROWD IN UNISON): ... hallowed by thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
REV. JOHN MILLER, CHURCH OF SCOTLAND: God of all grace, who did send thy son our savior, Jesus Christ, to bring life and immortality to light. Most humbly and heartily, we give thee thanks, but by His death, He destroyed the power of death, and by His glorious resurrection, open the kingdom of Heaven to all believers. Grant us assuredly to know that because He lives, we shall live also, and that neither death nor life nor things present nor things to come shall be able to separate us from thy love, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Almighty God, Father of all mercies and giver of all comfort, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) graciously we pray with those who mourn, but casting all their care on thee, they may know the consolation of thy love through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(CHOIR SINGING)
REV. CHRIS CHIVERS, MINOR CANON. WESTMINISTER: Almighty God, the fountain of all goodness, we humbly beseech thee to bless our most gracious sovereign lady, Queen Elizabeth, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Charles, Prince of Wales, and all the royal family. Endue them with thy holy spirit, enrich them with thy heavenly grace, prosper them with all happiness and bring them to thine everlasting kingdom through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, eternal God, our heavenly Father, we bless they holy name for all that thou has given us in and through the life of thy daughter, Elizabeth. We give thee thanks for her love of family and her gift of friendship, for her grace, dignity and courtesy, for her humor, generosity and sheer love of life. And we praise thee for the courage that she showed in times of hardship, the depth and reality of her Christian faith, the good example that she set for us to follow. We offer thee our heartfelt thanks for the deep affection she drew out of everyone she met. And we pray that thou would grant her peace. Let light perpetual shine upon her, and in thy loving wisdom and almighty power work in her the good purpose of thy perfect role through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. The late Queen Mother's life spanned a century of violence and of aspiration to peace. Let us pray for a world released from strife and working for peace.
Oh, God, in whom all things in Heaven and on earth are one, and through whom those who are divided can be reconciled, we set before thee our world so severely damaged by strife, especially this week, give to all those in the Middle East thy spirit of peacefulness. Across the world, restrain the passions of the aggressors and the frustrated and hasten the time when all nations and tribes, peoples and faiths shall live as neighbors in justice, freedom and peace. Amen.
Bring also, Lord, at our last awakening into the house and gate of Heaven, to enter into that gate and dwell in thy house, where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light, no noise nor silence, but one equal music, no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession, no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity in the habitations of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.
(CHOIR SINGING)
REV. ANTHONY BURNHAM, THE FREE CHURCHES GROUP: I see myself now at the end of my journey, my toilsome days are ended. I am going now to see that head that was crowned with thorns, and that face that was spit upon for me. I have formally lived by his say and faith, but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in whose company I delight myself.
I have loved to hear my Lord spoken of, and wherever I have seen the print of his shoe in the earth, there I have coveted to set my foot too. His name to me has been as a siddet (ph) box, yea, sweeter than all perfume. His voice to me has been most sweet, and his countenance I have more desired than they that have most desired the light of the sun. His word I did use to gather for my food and for antidotes against my faintings. He has held me and has kept me from my inequities. Yea, my step has He strengthened in his way.
Glorious it was to see how the open region was filled with horses and chariots, with trumpeters and pipers, with singers and players on stringed instruments, to welcome the pilgrims as they went up and followed one another in at the beautiful gate of the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us commend our sister, Elizabeth, to the mercy of God, our maker and redeemer. Oh, heavenly Father, who by thy mighty power has given us life, and in thy love has given us new life in my beloved son, we entrust our sister, Elizabeth, to thy merciful keeping in the faith of the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who died and rose again to save us, and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the holy spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.
CAREY: May God in his infinite love and mercy bring the whole church living and departed in the Lord Jesus, to a joyful resurrection and the fulfillment of His eternal kingdom, and the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you always. (MUSIC)
GARTER KING OF ARMS: Thus it hath pleased almighty God to take out of this transitory life unto his divine mercy the late most high, most mighty and most excellent Princess Elizabeth, Queen (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and Queen Mother; Lady of the most noble Order of the Garter; lady of the most ancient and most noble Order of the Thistle; Lady of the Imperial Order of the Crown of India. Grand Master and Dame Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, upon whom had been conferred the Royal Victorian Chain. Dame Grand Cross of the most excellent Order of the British Empire; Dame Grand Cross of the most venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of his majesty, King George VI, and mother of her most excellent majesty, Elizabeth II.
By the grace of God of the United Kingdom, of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of her other realms and territories, Queen. Head of the commonwealth; defender of the faith; sovereign of the most noble Order of the Garter, whom may God preserve and bless with long life, health, honor and all worldly happiness.
(MUSIC)
AMANPOUR: And, so, with the coffin of the Queen Mother being followed by the reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, her consort, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the rest of the senior members of the royal family, moving out of Westminster Abbey after that funeral service. The coffin will now be placed into a Hearse and it will begin its somber journey to Windsor Castle, where it will then be in (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
This is the end of the public ceremonies of farewell for the late Queen Mother. And it is now farewell to a great national symbol, the matriarch of the country. A person who symbolized service and who has been part of British life for the better part of the entire 20th century.
She will be remembered most for, first, sustaining this country and the royal family back in the mid 1930s, when this country was plunged into a constitutional crisis. When then King Edward VIII wished to marry the American twice-divorced Wallace Simpson. He was forced to abdicate. Queen Elizabeth, as she came became the consort of the shy (ph), King George VI, as he became. She helped him through those difficult years. Helped him to become an effective monarch.
During the World War II years, she and King George VI really made their mark on the British society, on their subjects, the British citizens. There, not only did she help her husband sustain national morale, but also during those troubled and desperate years helped to resurrect the image -- the shattered image -- of the royal family after that constitutional crisis. And thereafter, after her husband died in 1952 and her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended to the throne, she spent the remaining half-century dedicated to public service, dedicated to the people of this country. Not speaking much publicly, but always in public. Even into her 80s she was doing something like 130 public appearances. At the age of 98, 99 even, 25 public royal duties. On her 100th birthday, August 4th in the year 2000, she was part of many, many celebrations to mark that historic occasion.
And her strength and her stamina - and now she passes, her coffin, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, upon which tomorrow this wreath of roses and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) white, which was placed there by her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, this wreath will be placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. And that is as much to remember what Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, did when she was a young bride. When she had gotten married in Westminster Abbey she spontaneously put her posy, her wedding bouquet, on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.
As this royal party moves out and the coffin is placed into the Hearse, it will process around that Parliament Square area, the White Hall area. It will pass many famous British landmarks. Some that are seen all the time and some that are just here quietly spanning the years. There is a statue on this green (ph) outside the Houses of Parliament near White Hall, of Field Marshal Montgomery, one of the legendary World War II commanders in North Africa, who was once an old friend of this late Queen Mother.
I'm joined now by Robert Jobson, who has been talking with us throughout these services. Robert, let's remember that when the queen was born in 1900, one fifth of the earth's surface was covered by the British Empire. When she was queen, she was the last empress of India. And I think perhaps what summarizes the historic nature of what we're seeing now, which really is a memory of this last dramatic century and a farewell and much affection and respect for a woman who is much beloved by these people. I think the reading of her styles (ph) and title sums it up.
All of those styles (ph) and titles that have spanned an entire empire and that signify a moment in what was an empire here. And what the British people remember with great fondness. And she herself, I think, was quite horrified at the dismantling of the empire, wasn't she?
JOBSON: I think she was. I think you summed it up perfectly. The queen (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the Queen Mother adopted a role that she wasn't born to, but she grew into and actually made her own. And she certainly, with great dignity and courage, reformed the royal family and made it a respectful institution once again.
AMANPOUR: Richard Quest is now outside the great west door of Westminster Abbey from where the coffin is emerging. And we've been watching the many people who are outside and have been listening to the funeral service on the loud speakers. And we saw them even holding folded up copies of today's newspapers, which are filled with the precise order of service and we watched them follow along.
Richard, what was the atmosphere like outside?
QUEST: Christiane, the masked (ph) pipes have now started playing again, and there has been absolute silence from this crowd of several thousand during the funeral service. They followed the service, which was printed in the national newspapers, and they followed and sang along with the hymns. Some of them sang the national anthem right at the end.
And now, from where I'm standing, I have an unobstructed view of the coffin being placed into the back of the Hearse. The members of the royal family standing, watching, and the crowd is just agog at the sight and sounds of these 160 plus pipe bands and the pageantry. The sailors have lowered their heads.
And now the coffin has left the abbey. The guns have been turned upside down, their barrels facing to the ground. A mark of respect from the military -- Christiane.
AMANPOUR: We're watching Prince Charles, one of her favorite grandchildren, salute, along with the other uniformed members of the senior royals out there. The non-uniformed, the younger great grandchildren, are bowing their head in respect. The queen also outside watching, as the car, the Hearse, will now transport the coffin of her late mother away from Parliament Square, away from Westminster Abbey, down White Hall, The Mall, and through the Queen Elizabeth gates.
And one point on her journey -- and we'll no doubt see this -- she will pass a statue towards the head of The Mall of her husband, King George VI. And, soon, in several minutes, as her Hearse passes along and makes its final journey towards Windsor Castle, some 45 minutes away from central London, where she will be interred along with her husband, King George VI, we will see a flight, the Battle of Britain Memorial flight, with vintage Spitfires, Hurricanes, Lancasters, all those heroic aircraft that took part in that heroic age, where despite the odds, Britain was victorious.
And where she really entered the hearts of the British people, when every day she and her husband, King George VI, during the blitz, would visit the East End, which was repeatedly bombed. Sometimes even before the fires were out. And would go and talk to the people, see how they were, see how their families were surviving.
And she made that famous comment after Buckingham Palace was bombed. And it was bombed several times, once narrowly missing King George and Queen Elizabeth, as she was then. She said, "I am glad that we have been bombed now. At least I can look the East End in the face."
And she further cemented her place in the hearts of Britain, when there were rumors that perhaps the two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, her children, would be evacuated during the war. She said, "The girls cannot go without me. I cannot go without the king. And the king will never leave."
JOBSON: And then she'll be past the statue of Sir Winston Churchill, the last person to have a state funeral. And her great friend who she stood on the balcony with (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
AMANPOUR: And what's interesting about those early war years was that at first, Queen Elizabeth and King George VI were associated with the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They had Neville Chamberlain stand on the great Buckingham Palace balcony after Munich, after he said, "Peace in our time." Eventually, he had to -- he was forced by politics. And they weren't so keen on Winston Churchill in the beginning.
JOBSON: A lot of people weren't. But by the end of the war, most people still remember him very, very well indeed.
Well Prince Charles now is in the car behind the funeral Hearse and will accompany the Queen Mother's body all the way to Windsor. It's a request that she granted him specifically.
AMANPOUR: You can hear the bells start to peal now.
(MUSIC)
JOBSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), which was where the Queen Mother carried out one of her foreign engagements last November, and where she would go every year to pay her respects to the war dead. And very shortly, she will be passing along The Mall, where she will drive for the last time past the statute of King George VI, her late husband, and shortly she will be interred in the vault at St. George's Chapel where he lies.
AMANPOUR: Now, as she goes -- as the coffin is borne down The Mall, she will also pass Clarence House, which was her residence for the better part of half a century.
JOBSON: She moved there, and shortly after the king died, she thought it was going to be quite a small place at first, and was quite reluctant to move there. But eventually, it was the place that she lived all her life in London, and the place we all associate with her where she used to come out every birthday and celebrate with all the crowds.
AMANPOUR: And indeed on her 100th birthday, she rode along this very same route, The Mall, with Prince Charles in her carriage.
JOBSON: Absolutely. That was a very happy day. I remember watching that from the Queen Victoria Monument opposite Buckingham Palace, and she really was in her element, as she was smiling and laughing and waving. And it's such a sad contrast, but one should not forget those days when remembering this moment.
AMANPOUR: But I think, as we have been saying much of this morning, this is not a country that today, or even when she died, was plunged into grief or uncontrollable sorrow. This was a sadness, but also a moment where this country came together to remember what they call a great lady, somebody who they held in high affection, who service they deeply appreciate, and who symbolized everything that the people of this country remember best and miss most about this country.
JOBSON: I think so, Christiane, and you summed it up perfectly, because it's looking back at an age that many people think was a better age, but also it's a passing of a moment in time in history, when she was such an important figure during the war, and she was seen as a rallying point really. And I think that's why people were here as well as respect to the lady in the person, but respect to the age.
AMANPOUR: And now, we are going?
JOBSON: It's turning through, and it will be going up The Mall very shortly and going past that statute of her late husband.
AMANPOUR: And past Buckingham Palace.
JOBSON: This is the queen here with the Duke of Edinburgh, and they will be going back to Buckingham Palace, where they will be having a private family lunch, and the Prince of Wales will be the only member of the royal family to accompany the Queen Mother all the way to Windsor, where they will be united later.
AMANPOUR: And there will also be representatives from her paternal Scottish family, some of those lines.
JOBSON: Yes, we understand the Earl of Strathmore will be accompanying the Prince of Wales as well and members of her personal royal household.
AMANPOUR: Of course, they were also members of the procession that accompanying the gun carriage from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey.
JOBSON: The crowds have waited here, many overnight, just to see this moment, to pay their respects.
AMANPOUR: And as the hearse and the family members move along this solemn procession and solemn route, that is the scene of here we have the Battle of Britain Memorial fly over with the vintage aircraft in tribute to their wartime queen.
JOBSON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Spitfire from the Battle of Britain. I think this is a very poignant moment. One, it's a special tribute. I think that has been added afterwards, and it really does somewhat (UNINTELLIGIBLE) about everything that has been said about the Queen Mother.
AMANPOUR: Reverend Mark Jones, give us a sense of this moment of history that is being re-enacted.
JONES: I remember at the V celebrations of the Queen Mother and the queen and Princess Margaret standing on the balcony, and the same flights, the Battle of Britain Memorial flight came down The Mall, and the Queen Mother's face just lit up, as she looked skyward and saw those planes. And it must have been so reminiscent of her of standing on that balcony, watching the Lancaster, the Spitfire and the Hurricane go past. What a fitting memorial for the service that the Queen Mother gave us in encouraging and supporting us in those World War II days, and in particular, those early years of the Blitz.
AMANPOUR: And they are just flying over our position at Westminster Abbey today, and you can hear, I think, the applause of people outside who have been watching and waiting. This was a moment like no other in British history certainly in the last century, the courage of this country and the ultimate victory in the face of so many odds.
JONES: Oh, this is a very poignant moment. There were a few smiles in the Battle of Britain vintage fly-over when they were over there, but now we have the contrast with the last time that the Queen Mother will pass Buckingham Palace.
AMANPOUR: And again, just to point out to our viewers who may be wondering why there is so much attention being paid to what so many around the world have described in this modern era as an outmoded and an achromistic (ph) institution, despite all those comments, this country has remained loyal to this monarchy. And the polls that are taken over the years, at least as far back as 30 years, remain constant -- that the majority of the people in this country want the monarchy to remain as part of their institution.
Good night, Queen Mother, and God bless. That pretty much sums up the feelings of so many people who have been heard from over the last nine days, really, since she died.
So the queen, the reigning monarch, this is her jubilee year. Remember, 50 years ago in June, she ascended the throne upon the death of her father, King George VI. And there are many celebrations planned around Great Britain this year, and yet, this year, in the early part of this year, she has lost two of the closest members of her family, her sister and now her mother.
JOBSON: Well, I think, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, was quite adamant that those celebrations would continue and should happen. And she, for one, would expect her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, to put duty first, to put her loss aside and to get on with serving the country.
AMANPOUR: Now, in Windsor Castle, where she will be interred, it will be along with her husband, George VI, and right now, the inscription merely reads "George VI," doesn't it?
JOBSON: Absolutely, on the vault, and there will be an inscription which simply reads "Queen Elizabeth, 1900 to 2002," and along with her coffin, the ashes of Princess Margaret will be interred alongside, because simply, there was not enough room for her to be interred in a coffin. And that is why seven weeks ago now, eight weeks ago, she wanted to be cremated.
AMANPOUR: This is Princess Margaret.
JOBSON: Absolutely.
AMANPOUR: In order that she could be buried with her mother and father.
JOBSON: Alongside her father and mother, yes.
AMANPOUR: Prince Harry and Prince William. One shouldn't forget also, the Queen Mother had -- as we watch this memorial flight, the Hurricane, the Spitfire and the Lancaster, return overhead. One shouldn't forget, she had an enormous sense of fun as well. I mean, she was one who loved a party, who loved to dance, who loved to have a drink, who was a great sort of social person as well.
JOBSON: Right up until the last, she was actually holding dinner parties at her house, and champagne was being drunk. She loved the races, and she would have been at the Grand National on the weekend. She was a lady who lived her life to the full, and that's what we should be celebrating, as well as her passing.
AMANPOUR: Which is what her daughter, Queen Elizabeth, said to the nation, when she addressed her people last night, thanking them for the tributes, thanking them for the outpouring of affection, not only here but also from around the Commonwealth, said the Queen. She said that her mother lived a fantastic life, not just long, but very eventful, how much she loved life, and how despite the troubled and oftentimes sorrowful moments of this turbulent 20th century, there was so many great moments of progress, achievement, advancement, and that she saw it all.
JOBSON: Now, they are passing in front of the Victoria Monument in memory of Queen Victoria, from where she passed just there in her 100th birthday celebrations in the carriage of Prince Charles. And now, on this somber moment, they drive past it now. It's now just in front of Buckingham Palace.
AMANPOUR: I think what distinguished the Queen Mother from many other members of the royal family is she had an incredible populous touch, even though she was a grand person who had no love for the modernizing techniques that have been going on in this monarchy, she really believed in the pomp and the pageantry, and the dignity that she felt was owed the royal family. She nonetheless had a populous touch. She was able to connect with people in a way that, frankly, her daughter doesn't connect as well, although she his held in deep respect.
JOBSON: I think that's absolutely true. I think the fact that the Queen Mother was able to carry out and do things that she liked to do, like going to the races, and even when she went down to the East End during the war. These were things that she wanted to do, as the queen is a much more reserved person. And I think her personality has shined through, and that's very much why she has been loved during her 80 years of service that she did for the country.
AMANPOUR: You can hear the applause as the queen arrives back at Buckingham Palace. And perhaps it's worth just repeating a quote that I read as I was reading all the stories about the Queen Mother's death, one of the famous anti-royalist M. Pease (ph) once said about the Queen Mother, "that so long as she and her like are around, revolution in this country would be just that little wee bit more difficult to achieve."
She was considered the glue, really, that bound this institution together.
JOBSON: And she was also the head of the royal family in many ways, the royal matriarch, whose word was law to a degree, and the only person that the queen would have to listen to and probably obey to a degree. AMANPOUR: But let's not forget her passing in no way means the passing of this institution. The longevity of this institution is precisely in the way it carries on and on and on. And this queen, Queen Elizabeth II, is held in high respect, and she has many years to go.
JOBSON: Well, I hope so, and I think that the system of constitution monarchy in this country has been seen to be working, and if it works, there is no real reason to change it.
JONES: You mentioned the longevity, Christiane, of course, William the Conqueror in 1066 was crowned on Christmas Day in 1066 in Westminster Abbey. So the monarchy in one form or another has gone back over 1,000 years.
AMANPOUR: That's an incredible thought as we watch this. And again, you know, part of the reason that we have heard some of the British people have turned out in their droves is because of the respect for this institution, for the pageantry, for the day out where they can revel and appreciate and feel proud about something that is done by Britain better than in any other part of the world. I think that's generally accepted.
JONES: I think you're right, and certainly when the Queen Mother came to my church each year, we had far more people turning out on that particular Sunday than we ever had before or after.
AMANPOUR: And with a little wistfulness, people also say it's about the only thing we do better than anyone in the world right now.
JONES: And they are passing under the Worthington Arch, passing by it, and erected, of course, to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo. Of course, you can see the Royal Horse Artillery guns, which have been firing royal salutes, and indeed were firing on Friday.
AMANPOUR: Tell us a little bit about the significance of Windsor Castle. Let's just listen for a second.
(HORNS PLAYING)
AMANPOUR: Windsor Castle, where the Queen Mother will be buried, that's also a vital sort of part of British history.
JONES: Yes. Again, going back to William the Conqueror, William I, the Normans, and the Queen Mother, of course, will be buried alongside Windsor Castle in St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
AMANPOUR: As we watch the cortege, the hearse, the outriders and her grandson, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, follow her to her final resting place, we end our coverage of the ceremonial funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. She is now passing through the Queen Elizabeth gates in Hyde Park, as she continues her last journey. I want to thank our guests, Robert Jobson and Mark Jones, and thank everybody in the United States and around the world for joining us for this coverage.
I am Christiane Amanpour in London.
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