With the military parade and venerable hymns, the Queen’s state funeral service was steeped in tradition. But amongst the pageantry and ceremony were some deeply personal touches too.
BBC – September 20. 2022
They were reminders that this was not only a nation’s farewell to a monarch, but a heartfelt tribute to a mother, grandmother, churchgoer and dog lover.
Corgis
Two of the Queen’s beloved corgis Muick and Sandy awaited the procession carrying her coffin to St George’s Chapel inside Windsor Castle.
One on a red lead and one on a blue, they were escorted by two pages in red tailcoats as the coffin of their beloved former owner came past.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, will take on the two young dogs that the prince and his daughters gave the Queen as a present in 2021.
Her Majesty owned more than 30 corgis during her lifetime. So strong was the association that almost immediately after her death, well-wishers began asking who would adopt the dogs.
Emma, the Queen’s fell pony, also greeted the procession, standing in a gap in the floral tributes on The Long Walk – an avenue leading to Windsor Castle.
A lone piper
The service at Westminster Abbey closed to the haunting sound of bagpipes, played by the Queen’s personal piper.
For 70 years, largely without exception, the Piper to the Sovereign would play each morning for 15 minutes beneath the Queen’s window, wherever she was resident.