A former chief of MI5, Parker was awarded a knighthood in 2019 and is a member of the Privy Council, a group of the closest advisers to the monarch.Īfter the death of Queen Elizabeth II last week, online users are calling for the British government to surrender artifacts obtained by the British Empire, including the Kohinoor diamond - one of the most famous diamonds in the world. The position of the Lord Chamberlain - who acts as the head of the royal household, an adviser to the sovereign, and an intermediary between the monarch and the House of Lords, a chamber of the U.K.'s Parliament - has been held by Andrew Parker, the Baron of Minsmere, since April. The snapping of the wand symbolizes that the Lord Chamberlain has completed his final duty in post the overseeing of the monarch's funeral. King Charles II, left, watches as The Lord Chamberlain Baron Parker breaks his Wand of Office during a committal service for Queen Elizabeth II at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The wand of office is a thin white staff, which was traditionally used by the Lord Chamberlain to intimidate rowdy courtiers who would be prodded with it with a warning to behave.

One of the final acts of the queen's committal service has just unfolded - the breaking of the wand of office by Lord Chamberlain, and the placement of it atop the queen's coffin. The queen's coffin has been lowered into the royal vault at Windsor Castle, where the royal family held a committal service before she is laid to rest alongside her husband, Prince Philip.A royal procession escorted the casket through a central London route lined by crowds in a country that has come to a near-standstill for the event.The grand state funeral featured tributes, prayers and songs, with hundreds of world leaders and other dignitaries in attendance.A gun carriage carried the queen’s coffin from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, with King Charles III and other members of the royal family following behind.A line that stretched for miles along London's River Thames has ended after the final public mourners paid their last respects to the queen early Monday.She will be buried alongside her late husband, Prince Philip. King Charles III and his siblings, as well as the queen’s grandsons Princes William and Harry, then joined the solemn procession behind her casket and through the heart of the British capital, with huge crowds lining the streets.Įlizabeth has now completed her final journey to Windsor, where a committal service attended by the royal family and other selected guests took place. Britain is now ready to lay to rest its longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, with billions thought to be watching around the globe to mark the end of a reign that defined an era.Īfter escorting the queen’s coffin to Westminster Abbey, the royal family joined 2,000 dignitaries at the state funeral for an hourlong service of tributes and prayer that culminated in a two-minute silence and the singing of the national anthem. LONDON - Hundreds of world leaders and the last members of the epically long line of mourners have paid their final respects.

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