Celebrity guests arrive to pay farewell to the Queen

Bear Grylls led the celebrities attending Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday.

The 48-year-old TV personality waved to onlookers who had gathered outside the abbey at 11 a.m. for the monarch’s funeral service.

He joined Royals and world leaders in the Church to bid a final farewell to Her Majesty following her death at the age of 96 on September 8.

Grylls, who met the Queen many times through his work as Chief Scout and when he was appointed an Officer of the British Empire in 2019, previously paid tribute to the Royal.

He said: ‘I was lucky enough to meet the Queen on a number of different occasions – from the great evenings she hosted for Explorers at Buckingham Palace to sitting next to her at dinner and she did my OBE.

“The times I met her, the times she lit up the most, was when we were doing something with Scouting. I think it was one of the organizations she was most proud of.

“I especially remember driving her up and down in 2012 as she inspected all the Queen’s Scouts,” he said.

“This was the time when her face was just a huge beaming smile from start to finish. She just loved seeing young people get opportunities and skills in old-fashioned values ​​like kindness, loyalty, friendship and respect that never go out of style.’

Grylls joined the first members of the congregation for the Queen’s state funeral – as tens of thousands packed the processional route, which filled up just before 8:30 a.m.

The grand oak doors of the UK’s main church – where Her Majesty married Prince Philip and had her coronation – opened at 8 a.m., three hours before the service begins.

2,000 royals, world leaders and hundreds of members of the public have begun applying to the abbey as billions of people around the world will attend Her Majesty’s state funeral.

Most of the VIPs arrived by bus and met at the Royal Hospital Chelsea before being put on a bus to central London. British ministers – past and present – were among the first arrivals, including Nadham Zahawi, Ben Wallace and Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Michael and Carole Middleton, the parents of Kate, the Princess of Wales, arrived two hours early for the service, followed by Tom Parker Bowles, Queen Consort’s son, Camilla. They were also on a bus together – despite their close ties to the royal family. Celebrities at the funeral include TV personality Bear Grylls.

Funeral flowers in the abbey featured myrtle, which, according to royal tradition, was used in the queen’s bridal bouquet. The huge white and green blooms included Asiatic lilies, gladiolus, alstroemeria, eustoma and foliage of English oak, weeping birch and the sprigs of myrtle.

Surrounding the coffin will be the four tall yellow candles that usually rest around the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at the entrance to the historic church.

And beyond the hardened royal fans defied the no-camping rules, as people of all ages set up tents, lounge chairs and even a makeshift minibar to grab premium seats for the spectacle that will see 2 million people pour into the capital. At 8:30 am, the public was informed that the procession route was full and began diverting people to Hyde Park to watch the big screens.