Culture secretary asked whether ceremony should be scaled down in cost of living crisis
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Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin carried from Westminster Hall ahead of state funeral
No decisions have been made over King Charles III’s coronation, a government minister has said, as the monarch flew to Scotland to privately mourn the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II.
The culture secretary said there were not any plans set in stone when asked whether the ceremony should be scaled back in light of the cost of living crisis.
Her comments came after a day full of pageantry for the Queen’s state funeral, which drew hundreds of thousands to the streets of London.
Michelle Donelan said its full cost was still not known but suggested taxpayers believe it was money “well spent”.
Tuesday also marked the start of a period of royal mourning for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch and saw King Charles II head to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, which is believed to have been his mother’s favourite place.
The royal family are not expected to carry out any official engagements for a further seven days during this time.
Queen Elizabeth II’s beloved horse, Carltonlima Emma, was at Windsor Castle yesterday as the late monarch’s coffin was brought in a procession to St George’s Chapel.
The fell pony was dressed in a black riding blanket, adorned with the Queen’s cipher, and had one of the Queen’s headscarves draped on her saddle.
The Queen previously wore the same scarf while riding Emma through Great Windsor Park, in photos obtained by the Daily Mail.
My colleague Meredith Clark has more details:
The black fell pony was known to be a favourite of the late British monarch
Floral tributes to the Queen will be composted and given a new lease of life in planting projects throughout the Royal Parks.
It is expected that work to remove items laid by the public will begin on Monday, a week after the state funeral, and will continue for seven days.
Visitors will still be able to lay tributes but blooms which have already deteriorated will be moved to the Hyde Park nursery. Once taken away, any remaining packaging, cards and labels will be removed, before the plant material is composted in Kensington Gardens.
The compost will then be used on landscaping projects and shrubberies across the Royal Parks.
The Independent’s editorial today predicts that the cost of living crisis “will present the greatest challenge to the nation and the monarchy in the coming years”. It states:
“In such divided times, King Charles will be faced with challenges sometimes even greater than those his mother had to contend with, not forgetting that the transcendent crisis of our times, the climate emergency, has hardly disappeared.
“He will be attacked for being “political”, and will need to take care not to be drawn into party politics. For some, even expressions of compassion or concern from him will be seized upon and twisted. His will be a treacherous path.
“Behind the scenes, in quiet audiences with political leaders – in nuanced, very carefully weighted public interventions – the King can follow the exemplary lead of his mother to remind the politicians of their own responsibilities, and the dangers and costs of national division.
“In the familiar formula laid down by the constitutional scholar Walter Bagehot in the 19th century, King Charles has the right ‘to be consulted, to encourage and to warn’. He has all of his training and the example of his mother to draw upon.”
Editorial: In such divided times, King Charles III will be faced with challenges even greater than those his mother had to contend with
The Scottish Football Association has confirmed a minute’s applause will be held in tribute to the Queen before Wednesday’s match against Ukraine.
It follows a weekend of disruption to tributes in the Scottish Premiership, with the SFA electing to hold a minute’s applause at Hampden rather than a period of silence in the wake of disturbances before matches at Ibrox and Easter Road.
My colleague Jamie Braidwood has more details here:
It follows a weekend of disruption to tributes in the Scottish Premiership
King Charles was driven past Ballater – the village neighbouring Balmoral Castle – shortly after 1.30pm, reports the Aberdeen-based Press and Journal newspaper.
Tracking data on the website Flightradar24 showed that a plane left RAF Northolt in London this morning, and landed at Aberdeen Airport just after midday.
Ballater is a 15-minute drive from Balmoral, which is said to have been the late Queen’s favourite place.
No plans have been made as of yet for King Charles III’s coronation, a minister has said.
She was asked whether the ceremony should be scaled back in light of the cost of living crisis facing millions of Britons.
Full story:
Culture secretary says she believes taxpayers think Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was money ‘well spent’
Buckingham Palace has shared a poignant photograph of the Royal Family taken 75 years ago, to honour Queen Elizabeth II.
The Queen was just 21 years old when the image was taken, Emily Atkinson reports:
The Queen was just 21 years old when the image was taken
Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolonsaro remarked on the price of UK petrol as he visited London for the Queen’s funeral.
Standing on the forecourt of a Shell station in London, he pointed at the electronic sign displaying the price of gasoline, my colleague Oliver Browning reports.
Mr Bolsonaro claimed the 161.9p per litre cost was “practically double the average of many Brazilian states” and boasted that petrol in his country is “among the cheapest in the world”.
“If Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is to forever be a source of British pride, then let the public treatment of Meghan Markle be our shame.”
The Independent’s Voices editor Victoria Richards gives her verdict on the “savage outpouring of vitriol in Meghan’s direction” in recent days:
If Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is to forever be a source of British pride, then let the public treatment of the Duchess of Sussex be our shame
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