Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, related events cost UK government $200 million
- 20 May 2023
Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral and related events following her death last September cost UK taxpayers nearly £162 million ($201 million), the government revealed on Thursday in its first public estimate.
The state funeral for the late monarch was the first in the UK since that of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965.
The elaborate state funeral for Britain's longest-serving monarch, held on Sept.19, entailed a vast security operation for hundreds of foreign heads of state and royals.
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 on 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 pounds.
5,000 police officer deployed for security
More than 5,000 police officers from across the UK supported 10 days of ceremonial events to mark the late Queen's death and Charles' immediate accession to the throne last September.
Many were redeployed to support the events taking place in London and Scotland, where she died aged 96 at her Balmoral estate after a year of declining health.
Policing was also required in Windsor, west of the UK capital, and in Norfolk, to its northeast where the royals' Sandringham estate is situated.
The day of the funeral was the then-largest policing operation London's Metropolitan Police had ever staged, beating the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic Games.
That has since been topped by the operation around the May 6 coronation, which saw the Met leading an operation involving 11,500 officers, staff and volunteers on duty.
Anti-monarchists have branded the coronation a "vanity parade" and waste of scarce public money. But supporters have countered that the weekend-long celebration, which included an additional public holiday, would pay for itself in extra spending by people and visits to the UK by tourists.
Agencies
