United Kingdom observes a minute’s silence for Queen Elizabeth

The United Kingdom has observed this Sunday a minute’s silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II on the last day of the mortuary chapel installed in Westminster and on the eve of the state funeral for the monarch.

In London, near London Bridge, at 20.01 hours a group of British people stopped for a moment and lowered their heads to observe the minute’s silence, which they broke at the end with a resounding applause, according to the British press.

Dozens of Metropolitan Police officers who were close by, guarding the row of the funeral chapel, also observed the minute’s silence and then sang the British anthem.

And at Number 10 Downing Street, the seat of government, the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, has been standing in front of the iconic door of the residence during the minute’s silence.

In Chester, in the Town Hall Square, a vigil has been called to coincide with the minute’s silence which has been attended by a hundred people.

The minute’s silence was followed by a round of applause and a poem to the Queen by Simon Armitage, ‘A Promise Made and Kept for Life’, was read. This was followed by a prayer and the singing of the British anthem before the benediction by the Bishop of Chester, Mark Tanner. Attendees were also invited to light candles as a sign of “hope and prayer” for the nation.

At Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland, hundreds of people have taken part in a ceremony with bowed heads and before floral offerings outside the gates of the official residence of the crown in the region.

In Belfast, the queen has been remembered in a short service at Orange Hall in West Belfast. A minute’s silence has also been observed at Belfast International Airport or at the Titanic Belfast tourist attraction.