By David Young-
The Queen’s life of service was hailed “a rare jewel” at the first significant religious event marking her death – where hundreds of mourners sang God Save the King.
Prime Minister Liz Truss joined around 2,000 members of the public for the service of prayer and reflection at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday evening.
The Service of Thanksgiving saw hundreds of people who have served the nation invited to be part of the celebrations marking the Queen’s 70-year reign.
They were among a 2,000-strong congregation which included the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was booed by the crowd outside, Cabinet ministers, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, first ministers of the devolved governments and every living former prime minister.
The bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah, gave a rivetting speech to a very solemn audience.
“Most of us have not known life without the Queen,” the congregation of more than 2,000 people – including hundreds of members of the public – was told by the bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE.
“When she acceded to the throne, the world and the country were both very different places. For seven decades, Her Majesty remained a remarkable constant in the lives of millions: a symbol of unity, strength, forbearance and resilience.”
He described the queen as having been a nation’s “unerring heartbeat through times of progress, joy and celebration, as well as in much darker and more difficult seasons”.
She said: “All of us are grieving the loss of our head of state, head of the Commonwealth and supreme governor of the Church of England. But the royal family are grieving the loss of a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother. How we learn to live with the death of a loved one differs for each of us, but we must all find a way to grieve.”
Many in the pews openly wept, to music sung by the St Paul’s Cathedral choir, conducted by Andrew Carwood. It included Behold O God Our Defender by Herbert Howells, Bring Us, O Lord God, at Our Last Awakening by William Harris, and the Nunc dimittis from Evening Service in G by Charles Villiers Stanford.
The hymns were All My Hope on God is Founded, O Thou Who Camest from Above, and The Lord’s My Shepherd, which is said to have been a favourite of the Queen’s. As at her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947, it was to the tune of Crimond by Jessie Irvine.
Earlier, the prime minister, Liz Truss, delivered a Bible reading, Romans 14:7-12. “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s,” she rea
Prime Minister Liz Truss joined around 2,000 members of the public for the service of prayer and reflection at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday evening.
The famous place of worship fell silent as the congregation, who secured tickets on a first-come-first-served basis, listened to audio of the King’s televised address to the country.
Other political figures present included the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the foreign secretary, James Cleverly. They listened intently to Truss’s reading before standing for the hymn O Thou Who Camest from Above.
The 2,000 available public seats at the service were allocated on a first come, first served basis. Among those attending was pupil barrister Danielle Carrington, who praised the Queen for her “dignity and grace” as she queued with her mother outside St Paul’s.
The 20-year-old, who had been awarded a scholarship by the Princess Royal, said: “For all generations really, the Queen embodied those ideals of our country, integrity, dignity and grace, and it’s very important from my perspective anyway to pay respect to that.”
Carrington’s mother, Lindsey, said the loss was “like a family grief, a personal grief” rather than that for a monarch, adding: “We knew we could always depend on her [the Queen] in any diplomatic setting.”
Many of those in the crowd spoke of a “personal grief” having felt they had known the Queen without ever having met her.
Karen Wilson, a translator from Surrey, remembered the “real sense of dignity” that came across when she saw the Queen at an engagement in the 1990s. She said the monarch had smiled and waved at her young children as she passed them outside Buckingham Palace on her way from greeting the Emperor of Japan, a moment they will “always remember”.
“I was just moved by the sense of history and occasion. I think I didn’t realise till yesterday how much I loved her,” she recalled.
As darkness fell outside at the end of the service, it was Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, who delivered the blessing.
“God grant to the living, grace, to the departed, rest, to the church, the King, to the Commonwealth, and all the people, peace and concord, and to all his servants, life everlasting, and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be amongst you and rema
At 6pm, the unmistakable voice of Charles – referred to as “our new King” – filled the cathedral – a historic setting fit for the momentous occasion of a nation hearing its new monarch speak publicly for the first time.
As people gathered around television screens from John o’ Groats to Land’s End, mourners sat side by side in the packed cathedral almost 24 hours after Buckingham Palace announced the Queen’s death.
Among those attending were London Mayor Sadiq Khan, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
At 7.05pm, after the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby delivered a blessing, the first official public rendition of God Save the King took place as the service neared its conclusion.
The sound of the congregation singing the national anthem filled the vast cathedral, and mourners remained on their feet afterwards.
People had begun making their way into the cathedral almost three hours earlier – before 4.30pm – and the sound of quiet conversation could be heard as the organ played.
Tearful
Members of the congregation were tearful during the service as the choir sang, and one woman was seen using a handkerchief to wipe her eyes.
Ms Truss, who delivered a Bible reading from Romans 14.7-12, sat in the front row.
People stood by with their heads bowed a lament was played on bagpipes at just after 6.50pm, people stood, many with their heads bowed.
During her address, Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London, told the congregation: “A life lived in the service of others is a rare jewel.
“It is a jewel that Her late Majesty The Queen wore as a crown.”
She referred to the Queen’s dedication to her Christian faith and recalled early June when the cathedral was the setting for a much happier occasion – the service of thanksgiving for the monarch, attended by the royal family, during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
On that day, the cathedral’s mosaics and carvings were drenched in the sunlight of early summer.
While the chandeliers twinkled as usual on Friday, evening was beginning to fall on the renowned building and the mood, sartorial choices and atmosphere were more sombre.
Gone were the brightly coloured hats and fascinators, and in their place more muted tones.
Dame Sarah told the congregation: “Today, we gather in this Cathedral Church, with those across our nation, the Commonwealth and the world, with a profound sadness as we mourn her death.”
She said those gathered were celebrating the life of the Queen “which was dedicated to others”.
Dame Sarah said: “Most of us have not known life without the Queen. When she ascended to the throne, the world and the country were both very different places.
“For seven decades, Her Majesty remained a remarkable constant in the lives of millions: a symbol of unity, strength, forbearance and resilience.
“She has been this nation’s unerring heartbeat through times of progress, joy and celebration, as well as in much darker and more difficult seasons.”
Dame Sarah pointed out the Queen’s position as a much-loved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, saying: “All of us are grieving the loss of our head of state, head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
“But the royal family are grieving the loss of a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother.”
The Queen had pulled out of attending the service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s on the second day of Platinum Jubilee celebrations, due to the associate demands. She opted to watch the service on television from Windsor Castle after she suffered “discomfort” following a busy first day of festivities including a double balcony appearance and a beacon lighting.
It was a memorable occasion, one which will no doubt be in the history books.