Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
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| Date | Tuesday, 9 April 2002 9:48–13:50 |
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| Location |
Westminster Abbey, London (official ceremony) St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle (resting place) |
| Participants | British Royal Family |
The public funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother occurred on Tuesday, 9 April 2002 in Westminster Abbey in London, following her death on 30 March 2002 at the age of 101.
The Queen Mother had been suffering from a persistent cold which she caught during Christmas 2001. She was bedridden at Sandringham after her final public engagement on 22 November 2001, when she attended the recommissioning of HMS Ark Royal. However, despite missing many other scheduled events—such as the 100th birthday celebrations of Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, on 12 December 2001; the annual luncheon of the Women's Institutes, of which she was President, on 23 January 2002, and traditional church services at Sandringham—she was determined to attend the funeral of her younger daughter Princess Margaret. On 13 February she slipped in her sitting room at Sandringham, causing considerable concern to her daughter, the Queen, and the rest of the royal family), but she travelled to Windsor by helicopter the following day. She attended the funeral on 15 February in a people carrier with blacked–out windows,(which had recently been used by Margaret) shielded from the press according to her wishes so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair could be taken. She then returned to Royal Lodge. On 5 March 2002 she attended lunch at the annual lawn party of the Eton Beagles, and watched the Cheltenham races on television; but her health rapidly deteriorated during her last weeks after retreating to the Lodge for the final time. She weakened further throughout March 2002, and died on 30 March (Easter Saturday) with her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at her bedside.
The Queen Mother's body lay at the altar of the Royal Chapel of All Saints near Royal Lodge before being taken to London for her lying in state and funeral.
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