Queen’s gravestone pictured showing her laid to rest with Prince Philip

The Queen’s final resting place is seen in a new photo released by the royal family, showing her ledger stone surrounded by flowers.

Her name inscribed on the stone next to that of her husband Prince Philip, whom she famously described as her ‘strength and stay’.

She was also laid to rest with her father King George VI and her mother, his wife Elizabeth.

Her sister Margaret, who died in 2002 and was cremated, is also together with them. Her ashes were moved to the George VI memorial chapel with her parents’ coffins when the Queen Mother died weeks after.

Following a state funeral watched by millions, the Queen was buried in a private ceremony attended only by close family.

The last glimpse the public saw was when her coffin was lowered into the vault at the King George VI Memorial Chapel in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.

This afternoon, Buckingham Palace released the first picture of the new ledger stone installed there.

The chapel is currently closed to visitors, however people will be able to pay their respects from next week after Windsor Castle reopens to the public on September 29.

All four royals were members of the Order of the Garter, which has St George’s Chapel as its spiritual home.

The black stone slab, which is new, has been set into the floor after replacing the old stone that had the names George VI and Elizabeth inscribed in gold lettering.

It did not have the name Prince Philip because when he died last year aged 99, his coffin was waiting to be moved to the memorial chapel when the Queen died, so they could be buried together.

Until then, he had been interred in the Royal Vault of St George’s, rather than the memorial chapel which is a pale stone annexe added on to the north side of the building behind the North Quire Aisle in 1969.

The fresh stone now contains, in list form, ‘George VI 1895-1952’ and ‘Elizabeth 1900-2002’ followed by a metal Garter Star, and then ‘Elizabeth II 1926-2022’ and ‘Philip 1921-2021’.

Made of hand-carved Belgian black marble, it has brass letter inlays to match the previous ledger stone.

Heads of state and foreign royals travelled from around the world to attend the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey last week, with a procession then taking her coffin through the streets of London to the royal hearse where she was conveyed to Windsor.

There was subsequently a committal service in Windsor, followed by the private ceremony later in the evening.

The King George VI Memorial Chapel, which sits within the walls of St George’s Chapel, was commissioned by the Queen in 1962 as a burial place for her father King George VI – designed by George Pace and finished in 1969.

The chapel will reopen to visitors next week on all days the castle is open to the public, excluding Sundays when it is only open for worshippers.

Entry to the castle is £28.50 for adults on Saturdays and £26.50 on other days, according to the website.

The royal family is continuing its period of mourning for the Queen, to be observed until seven days after the funeral.

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