Posted: 02:21, 20 September 2022 | Updated: 02:22, 20 September 2022
The imperial crown, orb and scepter of Her Majesty’s Imperial State balanced on top of the Queen’s coffin were bolted down to avoid an earlier historical accident, it has been revealed.
Back in 1936, George V’s ornate Maltese cross – which contains some of the largest jewels in the Crown – fell into the gutter while resting on the coffin during his royal funeral procession.
It was said to be a bad omen, especially after his son, Edward VIII, abdicated, causing a constitutional crisis, a short time later, and was replaced by Queen Elizabeth II’s father, George VI.
So in light of this terrifying moment, the Times said, it was secured with all the other jewels in the Queen’s coffin while she lay in state and during her funeral to prevent a repeat of the unfortunate incident.
Marking the Queen’s severance from public service after death, the items appeared to have been later removed by the jeweler at St George’s Chapel as she entered the royal crypt as a “mere Christian soul” rather than a Monarch.
The Imperial State Crown then rested on the high altar after being removed from the Queen’s coffin. It was placed there by the Dean of Windsor, The Rt Revd David Conner.
King Charles III and members of the Royal Family follow behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, dressed in the Royal Standard with the Imperial Crown and Sovereign’s Orb and Scepter, as it is carried out of Westminster Abbey after her funeral .
The Imperial Crown of State is removed from the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II during the repose at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle
Before the final hymn, the imperial crown, orb, and scepter were removed from the coffin by the crown jeweler and, with Barge and Sergeants, passed to the Dean who placed them on the altar.
The removal of the crown from the coffin to the altar is painful, because in 1953 the crown was removed from the altar in Westminster Abbey and placed on the Queen’s head, marking the start of a 70-year reign.
At the end of the last hymn, the King placed The Queen’s Company Camp Color of the Grenadier Guards on the coffin.
At the same time, the Lord Chamberlain ‘broke’ his Wand of Office and placed it in the coffin – marking the Queen’s severance from her public service in death.
This is to create symmetry with the three state instruments removed.
The Dean of Windsor, The Rt Revd David Conner, places the Imperial Crown and Orb and Scepter at the High Altar during the Committal for Queen Elizabeth
The coffin, which was placed on a hearse draped in purple velvet, was slowly lowered into the royal vault as the Dean of Windsor said: “Go on your journey from this world, Christian soul.”
The Sovereign’s Piper played a lament, A Salute to the Royal Fendersmith, from the doorway between the Chapel and the Dean’s Cloister during which he walked slowly towards the Deanery in the Cloister, so that the music within the Chapel gradually faded.
During the service, the King will sit in the seat occupied by the Queen when she came to the chapel, which is closest to the altar.
