Monarch buried next to Prince Philip at Windsor

NEW DELHI — Jennifer Cooke was in middle school when her choir sang for Queen Elizabeth II on the monarch’s first visit to India in 1961.

“She came in a carriage. We had to stand in a straight line and couldn’t turn our eyes,” said Cooke, who performed at St. Paul’s Cathedral in what was then Calcutta, the onetime capital of British India. “I don’t remember much else, but she read from the Bible.”

The 70-year-old retiree spent Monday in front of a television in the seniors home where she now lives in New Delhi, watching with a touch of wistfulness as the queen was transported a final time during a traditions-laden funeral and procession.

The British monarchy is one of the most impervious institutions of the modern world. Queen Elizabeth II was at its enigmatic center.

The queen is also at the center of Netflix’s Emmy-winning period drama “The Crown,” which follows her reign across decades; Claire Foy portrays her in the first two seasons, and Olivia Colman took on the role in Seasons 3 and 4. It’s no secret that the drama has taken liberties, at times controversially so, in its storytelling. But the series — which creator Peter Morgan recently called “a love letter” to the U.K.’s longest serving monarch — has also shed light on the inner workings of the royal family in ways that the news, broadsheet gossip nor carefully crafted palace statements ever could.

LONDON — There have been royal blockbusters before, but never a show quite like this.

Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral was an intricately staged farewell production that had it all: elaborate costumes, bagpipes and tolling bells, soldiers on horseback, cannons and castles.

The streets along the procession routes were jammed with crowds, but the far bigger audience was watching on TV around the world.

Many analysts said the funeral could turn out to be the single most-watched TV event in history, with a large proportion of the world’s 7.7 billion people catching at least some of it.

Queen Elizabeth II’s son, Charles, became King Charles III the moment his mother died. But a date hasn’t yet been set for his coronation.

Royal tradition dictates that new sovereigns let some time for mourning elapse after the death of a monarch — and the ceremony itself will take some time to plan, as Britain has been laser-focused on the queen’s elaborate state funeral.

Elizabeth’s accession to the throne took place in 1952 after the death of her father, King George VI, but she was crowned 16 months later.

LONDON — As news spread that Queen Elizabeth II’s health was deteriorating, one British illustrator picked up a packet of watercolor pencils and began to draw.

Kerri Cunningham, an artist and mother of three from Lancashire in England, sketched the queen and her husband, Prince Philip, who died last year, sitting on a picnic blanket with his arm placed lovingly around her back. She penciled in a corgi alongside them and a bright blue sky above. There were three words underneath the image that would soon go viral with news of the queen’s death hours later: “Hello again Lilibet.”

LONDON — The world watched as Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin made its way toward Windsor Castle, the British monarch’s final resting place. Her two corgi dogs and beloved pony watched, too.

Elizabeth was the head of state and had constitutional duties. But those close to her talk about how she was happiest living life as a countrywoman, enjoying her animals’ company.

So it was perhaps fitting that those three favorites were present during the finale of the ceremonial procession.

Corgis Muick and Sandy were brought outside Windsor Castle ahead of the coffin’s arrival on the Long Walk, a 2.6-mile avenue that leads to the castle.

While viewers around the globe had their eyes trained on royal family members and world leaders gathered at Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral, they spotted TV celebrities.

Among them was outdoor adventurer and television star Bear Grylls, who attended the funeral as a representative of the Scout Association, the organization said on Twitter. In her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II was an enthusiastic supporter of the Scouts.

Grylls has served as the United Kingdom’s chief scout since he was appointed in 2009 at age 34, the youngest person to hold the post. In 2019, the queen awarded Grylls the Order of the British Empire.

LONDON — They were in the United Kingdom from California for a brief trip and charity event when news broke that Queen Elizabeth II was gravely ill in Scotland.

Prince Harry rushed alone to be with his dying grandmother but arrived moments after she passed away on Sept. 8 in Balmoral Castle, surrounded by her only daughter, Anne, and heir Charles. Since then, the country has been plunged into days of national mourning.

On Monday they walked in separately behind the queen’s coffin, in a solemn procession at London’s Westminster Abbey. They followed the new Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, and their two children, George and Charlotte.