St George’s Chapel

18th September 2022

On 19th September 2022, Elizabeth II will be laid to rest at St George’s Chapel at Windsor, where she will join a long list of ruling monarchs buried there, including her father George VI and her grandfather George V.

St George’s chapel was commissioned by Edward IV in 1475, and although it wasn’t completed before his death in 1483, he was interred there and later his wife, Elizabeth Woodville, was also brought to rest in the same chantry. Also present is the body of Henry VI, who was moved to the chapel by Richard III, 13 years after his death.

Construction of the chapel was completed in 1528 during Henry VIII’s reign, and he was also interred there with his third wife, Jane Seymour, after a two-day funeral procession. Henry’s procession stretched out across four miles, with more than one thousand mourners on horseback and hundreds on foot. The coffin was carried on a huge gilded chariot pulled by eight horses.

On the other hand, Charles I’s service at St George’s was a quiet affair. After his execution, his body was taken to Windsor with a very small group of mourners and he was interred without much ceremony.

Queen Victoria’s funeral was one of the largest gatherings of European royalty to have ever taken place. Her procession to St George's was led by a horse-drawn gun carriage which carried her coffin, but she chose to be interred nearby in a specially built mausoleum at Frogmore with her husband Prince Albert.