The Royal Family has released a previously unseen photograph of the Queen after she was laid to rest in a private burial.
The image of the monarch was taken at Balmoral in 1971, with the caption often borrowed from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest.”
“In loving memory of Her Majesty The Queen.
“1926 – 2022.”
It comes as the Royal Family observes another week of mourning for the Queen after a state funeral on Monday full of emotion and ceremony under the gaze of the world.
The family members are not expected to carry out official engagements, and flags at royal residences will remain at half-mast until 8am after the final day of royal mourning.
The Queen was finally laid to rest last night alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, part of St George’s Chapel, in the grounds of Windsor Castle.
The family’s website said the burial service, attended by close family members, was conducted by the Dean of Windsor.
Before the burial, some 800 guests attended a committal service in St George’s, which concluded with the crown, orb and sceptre – symbols of the Queen’s power and governance – being removed from the coffin and placed on the altar.
The Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, then broke his ‘Wand of Office’, signifying the end of his service to the sovereign, and placed it on the casket before it slowly descended into the Royal Vault.
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Earlier in the day, 2,000 people, including foreign royalty and world leaders, attended the Queen’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey in central London.
During his sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury told the congregation the outpouring of emotion for the Queen “arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us”.
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He told mourners: “People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
“But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten.
“The grief of this day – felt not only by the late Queen’s family but all round the nation, Commonwealth and world – arises from her abundant life and loving service, now gone from us.
“She was joyful, present to so many, touching a multitude of lives.”