London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Aug 05, 2025

MPs and public gather at St Paul’s for service of thanksgiving for the Queen

MPs and public gather at St Paul’s for service of thanksgiving for the Queen

Congregation of more than 2,000 people attends cathedral to listen to readings and sing hymns

They listened in silence – some with babes in arms, some in black mourning dress, others in the T-shirts and jeans of daily life – as the voice of King Charles III echoed around St Paul’s Cathedral.

As a service of thanksgiving coincided with the first public address of the new King, it was his words about his “darling mama” that were the focus before anything else at a solemn event which included a lament from a lone Scottish piper and ended with the first singing of God Save the King.

“Most of us have not known life without the Queen,” the congregation of more than 2,000 people – including hundreds of members of the public – was told by the bishop of London, the Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE.

“When she acceded to the throne, the world and the country were both very different places. For seven decades, Her Majesty remained a remarkable constant in the lives of millions: a symbol of unity, strength, forbearance and resilience.”

The Queen had, the bishop reflected, been a nation’s “unerring heartbeat through times of progress, joy and celebration, as well as in much darker and more difficult seasons”.

She said: “All of us are grieving the loss of our head of state, head of the Commonwealth and supreme governor of the Church of England. But the royal family are grieving the loss of a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother. How we learn to live with the death of a loved one differs for each of us, but we must all find a way to grieve.”




Those in the pews listened, and sometimes openly wept, to music sung by the St Paul’s Cathedral choir, conducted by Andrew Carwood. It included Behold O God Our Defender by Herbert Howells, Bring Us, O Lord God, at Our Last Awakening by William Harris, and the Nunc dimittis from Evening Service in G by Charles Villiers Stanford.

The hymns were All My Hope on God is Founded, O Thou Who Camest from Above, and The Lord’s My Shepherd, which is said to have been a favourite of the Queen’s. As at her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947, it was to the tune of Crimond by Jessie Irvine.

Earlier, the prime minister, Liz Truss, delivered a Bible reading, Romans 14:7-12. “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s,” she read.

Other political figures present included the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and the foreign secretary, James Cleverly. They listened intently to Truss’s reading before standing for the hymn O Thou Who Camest from Above.

The 2,000 available public seats at the service were allocated on a first come, first served basis. Among those attending was pupil barrister Danielle Carrington, who praised the Queen for her “dignity and grace” as she queued with her mother outside St Paul’s.

The 20-year-old, who had been awarded a scholarship by the Princess Royal, said: “For all generations really, the Queen embodied those ideals of our country, integrity, dignity and grace, and it’s very important from my perspective anyway to pay respect to that.”

Carrington’s mother, Lindsey, said the loss was “like a family grief, a personal grief” rather than that for a monarch, adding: “We knew we could always depend on her [the Queen] in any diplomatic setting.”

Elsewhere among thousands of well-wishers who had formed a line winding from the cathedral round to the tube station streets away, waiting to take their seats, some of those in the crowd spoke of a “personal grief” having felt they had known the Queen without ever having met her.

Karen Wilson, a translator from Surrey, remembered the “real sense of dignity” that came across when she saw the Queen at an engagement in the 1990s. She said the monarch had smiled and waved at her young children as she passed them outside Buckingham Palace on her way from greeting the Emperor of Japan, a moment they will “always remember”.

“I was just moved by the sense of history and occasion. I think I didn’t realise till yesterday how much I loved her,” she recalled.

As darkness fell outside at the end of the service, it was Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, who delivered the blessing.

“God grant to the living, grace, to the departed, rest, to the church, the King, to the Commonwealth, and all the people, peace and concord, and to all his servants, life everlasting, and the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be amongst you and remain with you always.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Texas House Paralyzed After Democrats Walk Out Over Redistricting
Mexican Cartels Complicate Sheinbaum’s U.S. Security Talks
Mark Zuckerberg Declares War on the iPhone
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
Tesla Seeks Shareholder Approval for $29 Billion Compensation Package for Elon Musk
Nvidia is cutting prices on its RTX 50-series graphics cards after sales slowed and inventories piled up
Ghislaine Maxwell Transferred to Minimum-Security Prison Amid Ongoing DOJ Discussions
U.S. Tariffs Surge to Highest Levels in Nearly a Century Under Second Trump Term
Matt Taibbi Slams Media for Role in Russiagate Narrative
Pilots Call for Mental Health Support Without Stigma
All Five Trapped Miners Found Dead After El Teniente Mine Collapse
Ong Beng Seng Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case Linked to Former Singapore Transport Minister
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
Italy Fines Shein One Million Euros for Misleading Sustainability Claims
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
Declassified Annex Links Soros‑Affiliated Officials and Clinton Campaign to ‘Russiagate’ Narrative
UK's Online Safety Law: A Front for Censorship
Nationwide Protests Erupt in Brazil Demanding Presidential Resignation
Parents Abandon Child at Barcelona Airport Over Passport Issue
Mystery Surrounds Death of Brazilian Woman with iPhones Glued to Her Body
Bus Driver Discovers Toddler Hidden in Suitcase in New Zealand
Switzerland Celebrates 734 Years of Independence Amid Global Changes
U.S. Opens Official Investigation into Former Trump Prosecutor Jack Smith
Leaked audio of Canada's new PM Mark Carney admitting the truth about the Net Zero agenda: "We're gonna make a lot of money off of this."
China Enforces Comprehensive Ban on Cryptocurrency Activities
Absolutely 100% Realistic EVO Series Doll by EXDOLL (Chinese Company) used mainly for carnal purposes
World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab: "In this new world, we must accept... total transparency. You have to get used to it. You have to behave accordingly. But if you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't be afraid."
Meet Mufti Hamid Patel, head of Office for Standards in Education in Pakistan
George Soros tells the World Economic Forum: "President Trump is a con man and the ultimate narcissist, who wants the world to revolve around him."
Hamas are STARVING the hostages.
Decline in Tourism in Majorca Amidst Ongoing Anti-Tourism Protests
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
Poland Begins Excavation at Dziemiany After New Clue to World War II‑Era Nazi Treasure
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Threatens Canada with Tariffs Over Palestinian State Recognition
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Trump Sues Murdoch in “Heavyweight Bout”: Lawsuit Over Alleged Epstein Letter Sets Stage for Courtroom Showdown
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
Trump Administration Finalizes Broad Tariff Increases on Global Trade Partners
J.K. Rowling Limits Public Engagements Citing Safety Fears
JD.com Launches €2.2 Billion Bid for German Electronics Retailer Ceconomy
Azerbaijan Proceeds with Plan to Legalise Casinos on Artificial Islands
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
×