LONDON (AP):
Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral and lying-in-state last year cost Britain’s government an estimated £162 million (around US$200 million), the treasury revealed Thursday.
The state funeral for the late monarch, held on September 19, was the first in the UK since that of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965.
The occasion, attended by world leaders and dignitaries, followed 10 days of national mourning after the queen died at age 96 on September 8 after 70 years on the throne.
Hundreds of thousands of people were drawn to London’s Westminster Hall to see the United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch lying in state.
The costs were published Thursday as part of a written statement to Parliament.
“The government’s priorities were that these events ran smoothly and with the appropriate level of dignity, while at all times ensuring the safety and security of the public,” said John Glen, chief secretary to the treasury, in a statement.
Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, were both interred at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Philip, who died in 2021 at 99 years old, chose not to lie in state and his funeral was a muted affair, because it was held under strict social distancing rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The last royal funeral before that was for Elizabeth’s mother, known as the Queen Mother, in 2002. She lay in state for three days, and her funeral costs were estimated to be around £5.4 million.