Comments from the author: I was lucky enough to be in London (with my beloved camera) at the time of the national mourning after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. And I have combined my most atmospheric photos (90 of them, to be precise) from that period into a photo gallery. I have also added some comments to better reflect what was like to be in London at this historic time. 

I hope you will enjoy this post.

“THE END OF THE ERA” IN 90 PICTURES

The world used to Elizabeth II to be the Queen of the United Kingdom.

She reigned for 70 years and 214 days, and at the time of her death, for over 80% of the UK population, she was the only UK monarch they remembered.

She was in good health for most of her life.

Perhaps this is why there was an (unrealistic) general “expectation” that she would live “forever”.

Therefore, despite Queen’s advanced age (she was 96 when she died), her death came as a surprise to the nation, especially since this ruling monarch for over 70 years was still on duty two days before her passing.

On 6 September 2022, Queen, in person, accepted the resignation of Boris Johnson and appointed Liz Truss as a new Prime Minister.

London on the day when Queen Elizabeth II died (Thursday, 8th of September 2022)

Her Majesty's life came to an end on the 8th of September 2022.

The Queen died at 3:10 pm.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced to the public at 6:30 pm when Buckingham Palace released a short statement.

“The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon.

The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow”.

Thursday, 8th Septmeber 2022

The official message was displayed on the gates of the Palace Buckingham.

The nation entered 12 days of official mourning.

“Operation London Bridge”

Following the long royal tradition, the detailed plan for the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was ready soon after she became the ruling monarch in 1952.

She became a Queen at the age of 25 after the sudden death of her father, King George VI.

This plan was given the secret code name "Operation London Bridge".

"Hyde Park Corner" was the name used by the government for the funeral arrangements of her father, George VI.

“Operation Menai Bridge" is a code dedicated to the future funeral plan for the current King, and the oldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, Charles III. Menai Bridge is a suspension bridge in Wales.

Londoners flock to Buckingham Palace

As always in important moments of the city's history, Londoners began to gather outside Buckingham Palace.

Despite the bad weather, the crowd quickly filled the space outside the official home of the Queen in London, and the sea of mourning Londoners began to flock to The Mall.

Londoners came after work with flowers and candles to express their first tributes.

On the same day (Thursday evening), London’s Black cabs began spontaneously lined up along the Mall in a moving tribute to the Queen.

In no time, outside the Palace, the journalist village appeared.

For the next two weeks, London and Buckingham Palace became the center of attention of the whole world.

The small screens of the bus stops…

…and the famous screen at Piccadilly Circus all paused for a moment in their usual “ad” business and started to display the tribute photos of the late Queen.

The next day after Queen’s death (Friday, 9th of September 2022)

On the 9th of September 2022, one subject dominated all the newspapers.

The sea of flowers tributes to the late Queen started to fill the space outside Buckingham Palace’s gates.

Apart from flowers, people were bringing pictures of the Queen…

..personal messages…

…toys depicting the Queen…

…and Paddington bears.

Queen & Paddington Bear

During the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Party at Buckingham Palace (a celebration of the anniversary of her being on the throne for over 70 years) in June 2022, the absent monarch surprised the nation with a video of her very charming and funny performance featuring Bear Paddington. You can watch this video below.

On one of the gates of Buckingham Palace, someone placed the black Union Jack with pictures of the Queen and her late husband, Prince Philip.

Next to it, the words once Queen famously said herself:

"Grief is the price we pay for love".

With the weekend on the horizon (it was Friday evening), the constantly moving crowd outside the Palace was becoming bigger and bigger…

People were queuing for hours to lay flowers at the Palace’s gates…

The Mall became one of the busiest parts of London.

The weekend after Queen’s death (10th-11th of September 2022)

Encouraged by the weekend and good weather, the entire families (hundreds of thousands of them) continued to flock to London to pay their respect to the beloved monarch.

Some even brought their dogs with them.

Everybody wanted to lay the flowers outside Buckingham Palace.

That introduced a logistic challenge for the authorities.

The organized queues ran through St. James’s Park.

The queues were long, but people were patient.

The flowers from outside the Palace were regulary moved to nearby Green Park.

The day when the Queen's coffin arrived in London - Tuesday, 13th of September 2022

The Queen died in Scotland in her beloved Balmoral Castle.

Her coffin arrived in London (at Buckingham Palace) five days later, on the evening of the 13th of September 2022.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of London in heavy rain to mark its arrival.

In the meantime, the authorities were working 24/7 to prepare London for the “funeral of the century”.

The Mall was decorated with Union Jacks.

People continued to pay tributes to Queen Elizabeth II.

All the generations were saying their goodbyes to the Queen.

The oldest ones…

…and the youngest.

London public transport was covered with pictures of the Queen.

Advertisement screens at the London Underground…

Advertisement screens at Rail Stations.

London Bus Stops

London’s businesses started to display pictures of the Queen in their windows.

Harrods also placed its floral tribute to the Queen outside Buckingham Palace.

Harrods is a luxury department store in London.

Tributes to the Queen at Leicester Square:

…Piccadilly Circus…

The day when the Queen's coffin was moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in state (Wednesday, 14th of September 2022)

On the 14th of September, Queen's coffin was moved to Westminster Hall, where members of the public could pay their respect.

King Charles III, Prince William, and Prince Harry participated in the ceremonial procession.

They all marched behind Queen's coffin from Buckingham Palace, through the Mall and the Whitehall.

The music of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Chopin was played during the procession.

Some of the music played at the procession of the Queen from Buckingham Palace to Westminster:

Beethoven’s Funeral March No 1

Mendelssohn’s Funeral March

Chopin’s Funeral March.

Big crowds gathered along the Mall and the Whitehall to see the procession.

After the procession the King Charles III and the Queen Consort Camila came back to Buckingham Place.

The long queues of people who wanted to pay respects to the Queen were already formed along the River Thames.

The queues ran from Lambeth Bridge, along the southern river Embankment, to Tower Bridge and beyond.

London on the day of State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II (Monday, the 19th of September 2022)

Queen’s State Funeral was attended by representatives from 168 countries, including 18 monarchs, 55 presidents, and 25 prime ministers.

It was the biggest security operation in UK history.

During the mourning period estimated 10,000 police officers were on duty in London every day.

Police dogs were helping too.

On the 19th of September, the streets of London were packed with people who wanted to witness this historic moment (the day of the Queen’s state funeral was a public holiday).

People also gathered in Hyde Park to watch the ceremony on the big screens provided by the city.

In Hyde Park, at 12:15 am a special gun salute took place.

The rich display of pageantry entertained the crowd waiting along the streets.

The Queen of 70 years left London for the last time on the 19th of September 2022, around 12:30 am.

Queen's coffin traveled to Windsor for the last service at St George's Chapel and was later buried in the George VI Memorial Chapel in Winsor Castle.

Queen’s State Funeral ceremony was watched by estimated 29 million people in the UK and around 4 billion around the world.

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I am a compulsive Walker and Story Seeker (and I like a good map!). Check out one of my self-guided WALKS of London (packed with STORIES and MAPS!) and tell me if walking in London is not FUN!?

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