Queen Elizabeth remembered in elaborate and poignant state funeral

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• Judy Woodruff:

  Queen Elizabeth II was honored with an elaborate and poignant state funeral carried out with precision timing in London today, before being taken to her final resting place at Windsor Castle.

  Our Malcolm Brabant was there to witness a day like no other in most lifetimes.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  The beginning of the end of 10 days of mourning started serenely.

  Just after dawn, Christina Heerey from Britain's Royal Air Force the last of 400,000 citizens to make the pilgrimage to Westminster Hall, had her moment with the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

  Then heads of state from across the globe filed into Westminster Abbey to honor Queen Elizabeth and witness a pageant of imagery and symbolism that perhaps will never be seen again.

  President Biden took his place amongst what was perhaps the biggest gathering of world leaders in decades. No invitations were extended to the authoritarians in Russia, Belarus, or Myanmar.

  Bells tolled 96 times, once for every year of the queen's life, as a bearer party from the Grenadier Guards carried the coffin from Westminster Hall. Shrouded in the royal standard, the casket was decorated with the imperial state crown and the orb and scepter, symbols of the monarch's godly and earthly powers, a handwritten card from King Charles III nestled in the flowers.

  The coffin was lowered onto a 19th century gun carriage used for the final journeys of every British monarch since Queen Victoria, as well as the wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

  As tradition dictates, sailors hold the carriage the short distance to Westminster Abbey, because horses were deemed to be too skittish. King Charles fought to keep his emotions under control as, at a slow march, he accompanied his mother and led the nation.

  In the rear, the mass bands of pipes and drums played a final lament. It was the sound of Scotland, where the queen felt most at home and where she died.

  The funeral has been years in the planning, and the queen, as head of the Church of England and defender of the nation's faiths, was intricately involved in selecting the music and order of service. The dean of Westminster, David Hoyle, received her body into the abbey, where, almost three-quarters-of-a-century ago, she was first married and then crowned queen.

  David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster: In grief and also in profound Thanksgiving, we come to this House of God, to a place of prayer, to a church where remembrance and hope are sacred duties. We gather from across the nation, from the commonwealth and from the nations of the world to mourn our loss.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, paid tribute to the queen's life of inspirational service. He talked of the world's sense of grief and had sharp words to some elected politicians.

  Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury: Her late majesty famously declared on her 21st birthday a broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and commonwealth. Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. People of loving service are rare in any walk of life.

  Leaders of loving service are still rarer. But, in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are long forgotten.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  A fanfare heralded the start of two minutes' silence observed across the land. The national anthem brought the service to a close. The British people are becoming accustomed to the new lyrics of "God Save the King."

  Charles III was front and center of today's pageantry, but remained silent and alone with his thoughts. These were his words to the nation the day after the queen died.

• King Charles III, United Kingdom:

  As the queen herself did with such unswerving devotion, I too now solemnly pledge myself, throughout the remaining God grants me, to uphold the constitutional principles at the heart of our nation.

  And wherever you may live in the United Kingdom or in the realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your background or beliefs, I shall endeavor to serve you with loyalty, respect, and love, as I have throughout my life.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  As the gun carriage was hauled through London's most majestic quarters, trailing a cortege more than a mile long, there was a sense that this was not just a funeral, but also a declaration of British intent and identity, after a period in which the nation has been uncertain of its place in the world.

  Charles has ascended the throne at a difficult time.

  Do you think the monarchy is secure for the immediate future?

  Robert Hardman, Author, "Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II": I think the monarchy is more than secure for the — for as far as I can see. I mean, you never know what's coming down the track.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  Robert Hardman is the author of "Queen of Our Times" and a leading British royal expert.

• Robert Hardman:

  The king is very popular. There's been a huge groundswell of support for him. His heir, William, and Catherine, his wife, I mean, they are a very, very solid duo, now well-bedded in as part of the national landscape, if you like.

  But a less confident view comes from Rob Watson, the political correspondent of the BBC World Service.

• Rob Watson, BBC World Service:

  The danger they face is much more one of demographics. All the polling suggests that King Charles, the monarchy, the queen, hugely popular the older you are and the whiter you are, but amongst younger people and amongst ethnic minorities, the monarchy, the idea of it and King Charles are not so popular.

  I mean, I don't think it's an existential threat, but it shows that there is a sort of challenge to keep the affections of British people onside.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  The procession ended at London's Wellington Arch. The bearer party solemnly placed the queen's coffin in the state hearse.

  The leaving of London was through some of the capital's poorer districts, as the hearse made its way to Windsor and her final resting place. Slowly, the cortege made its way along the Long Walk of Windsor Great Park, where the queen used to ride. It wasn't just the people who solemnly waited to say farewell. Her favorite horse pawed the ground as her coffin passed.

  The committal inside Windsor Castle's St. George's Chapel was a briefer, more intimate service than at Westminster. The finality of it all became clear, as the instruments of her reign were removed from the coffin, the scepter, the orb, the crown.

  A pipe major played a Scottish lament as the casket was lowered into the vault, where she was interred next to her late husband, Prince Philip, the duke of Edinburgh. In life, the queen awoke to the sound of the pipes, and there was a haunting symmetry as she finally disappeared from view.

  And that was the end of the public ceremonies. After the queen's body was loaded into the vault, it was moved to the memorial chapel inside St. George's. It was the end of a quite extraordinary day, Judy.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Extraordinary, for sure, Malcolm.

  And you mentioned what a difficult time this is, as King Charles III ascends to the throne. What are some of the challenges he will be facing now?

• Malcolm Brabant:

  Well, we're waking up to a new Britain now.

  And one of the key things that King Charles III has to do is to do what his mother did so well, and that is to unite the country, the nation. And the clue is in the name, United Kingdom. But it's been fairly fractured. Over the past few years. The Scots have been trying to get independence.

  And it remains to be seen whether or not those calls can be dampened down, also that there might be problems in Northern Ireland possibly for those unionists. That part of the country has always been seen as possibly the most loyal in the union, because Protestants outnumbered Catholics.

  But a new census is coming out which shows that that's going to change and the Catholics are going to outnumber the Protestants. And so there may be calls, possibly, for there to be a united Ireland. And that is something that Prince Charles may have to deal with.

  But one of the — so, what to do really as well is to make sure that the monarchy evolves and becomes relevant to today's society. And he's helped by the fact that many people here aren't really prepared to have an elected head of state. The idea of there being a President Boris Johnson or a President Tony Blair is anathema to most people.

  So it may seem like something from a bygone age, but people here seem to like the idea of a constitutional monarchy.

• Judy Woodruff:

  It sounds like a very full plate, indeed.

  Malcolm Brabant, joining us from London on this historic day.

  Malcolm, thank you.

• Malcolm Brabant:

  Thank you, Judy.