The Queen’s final resting place

After making her final journey from London this afternoon, Queen Elizabeth II was laid to rest at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. 

The Queen was first lowered into the Royal Vault just after 4pm in a committal service attended by about 800 guests, mainly current and former staff from the Queen’s household. 

She was interred in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, her final resting place, in a private family service later in the evening. 

The Royal Vault was built between 1804 and 1810 on commission by King George III, who was the first British monarch to be interred there after his death in 1820. 

The vault is a stone-lined chamber with enough space to hold 44 bodies which lies around 16 feet below the altar of St George’s Chapel.

During royal funerals, the coffin is lowered into the vault through a hole in the chapel’s floor. 

The vault has become the final burial place for 24 royals, including kings George IV and William IV.

For other royals, however, the vault serves as a temporary resting place.

The Queen’s husband, Prince Philip, was originally interred in the Royal Vault following his death in April 2021, where he remained until his wife’s death. 

The Duke of Edinburgh was joined in the vault by his late wife’s coffin for a brief period after the committal service on Monday, before both coffins were transferred to the King George VI Memorial Chapel. 

The King George VI Memorial Chapel is one of several separate burial places within St George’s Chapel, and was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II in 1962 to hold members of her immediate family. 

The Queen now rests alongside her father, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and the ashes of her sister Princess Margaret.

Featured image: Aurelien Guichard @WikimediaCommons (CC BY-SA 2.0)