just A SNIPPET

Taken from the Daily Mail newspaper of the 10th April 2002

{HM died at Windsor on the 30th March 2002 aged 101.  Ten days of national mourning took place which
 included the lying-in-state of the coffin in Westminster Hall, followed by the funeral in Westminster Abbey on the 9th April. 
On completion, the coffin was returned to Windsor by road and overnight on the 9th, was placed in the tomb of her husband, King George VI}

Royal chapel opened to public

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Several hundred mourners queued today to see the Queen Mother's final resting place in St George's chapel at Windsor Castle.

The body of the Queen Mother was interred alongside her late husband George VI at a private committal service last night.

The ashes of their daughter, Princess Margaret, who died two months ago, were also placed in the tomb in the George VI Memorial Chapel, a small recess off the main chapel.

Four wreaths had been laid around an altar by senior members of the royal family. A wreath of white roses from Princes William and Harry, and a wreath of flowers picked from Prince Charles' garden at his Highgrove Estate, ringed the altar on the floor.

Princess Margaret's children, Lady Sarah Chatto and Viscount Linley, also left wreaths of pink and red carnations.

All the flowers bore cards carrying personal messages from the grieving members of the royal family. They lay inches away from the black marble gravestone, which had been removed by stonemasons but was now back in place.

It originally read simply King George VI, but now the years of his birth and death, 1895-1952, have been added.

Underneath it reads simply: "Elizabeth 1900-2002."

A bronze plaque will be fixed at a later date to the chapel wall to commemorate Princess Margaret, according to chapel officials.

The simple altar was covered with a gold braid cloth, and a modern Perspex and metal cross - earlier bestowed by Princess Margaret - sits on top of it.

A bouquet of the Queen Mother's favourite flowers had been arranged by a gardener in a vase behind the altar.

It included pink orchids and white camellias picked from ;her garden at the Royal Lodge within the castle grounds.

A line formed stretching back more than 150 yards as people queued to get in to St George's Chapel.

Admission to the castle normally costs £11.50, but people were being allowed in free today to file past the gravestone.

Godfrey Dykes, 63, was first in line and had been queuing for three and a quarter hours before the gates opened at 10am.

The former warrant officer, who served for 30 years in the Royal Navy, of Petersfield, Hants, had once instructed Prince Charles as he trained as a communications officer in the Navy.

Mr Dykes said: "I queued for five hours to pay my respects in Westminster Hall on Friday. This is the final phase - to see her with her husband and daughter.

"I'm a Royalist - that's my religion. I was in charge of the coffin bearers at Lord Mountbatten's funeral in 1979."

Caroline Penayiotou, 37, of Windlesham, Surrey, brought her three-year-old son Andreas.

She said: "It's about being part of history and paying my respects to a very fine lady.

"I would have loved to have gone to London to see the lying in state but with a little one it's not so easy having to queue for hours and hours."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-108957/Royal-chapel-opened-public.html#ixzz1CneSjJMA

Royal chapel opened to public

Several hundred mourners queued today to see the Queen Mother's final resting place in St George's chapel at Windsor Castle.
The body of the Queen Mother was interred alongside her late husband George VI at a private committal service last night.
The ashes of their daughter, Princess Margaret, who died two months ago, were also placed in the tomb in the George VI Memorial Chapel, a small recess off the main chapel.
Four wreaths had been laid around an altar by senior members of the royal family. A wreath of white roses from Princes William and Harry, and a wreath of flowers picked from Prince Charles' garden at his Highgrove Estate, ringed the altar on the floor.
Princess Margaret's children, Lady Sarah Chatto and Viscount Linley, also left wreaths of pink and red carnations.
All the flowers bore cards carrying personal messages from the grieving members of the royal family. They lay inches away from the black marble gravestone, which had been removed by stonemasons but was now back in place.
It originally read simply King George VI, but now the years of his birth and death, 1895-1952, have been added.
Underneath it reads simply: "Elizabeth 1900-2002."
A bronze plaque will be fixed at a later date to the chapel wall to commemorate Princess Margaret, according to chapel officials.
The simple altar was covered with a gold braid cloth, and a modern Perspex and metal cross - earlier bestowed by Princess Margaret - sits on top of it.
A bouquet of the Queen Mother's favourite flowers had been arranged by a gardener in a vase behind the altar.
It included pink orchids and white camellias picked from ;her garden at the Royal Lodge within the castle grounds.
A line formed stretching back more than 150 yards as people queued to get in to St George's Chapel.
Admission to the castle normally costs £11.50, but people were being allowed in free today to file past the gravestone.
Godfrey Dykes, 63, was first in line and had been queuing for three and a quarter hours before the gates opened at 10am.
The former warrant officer, who served for 30 years in the Royal Navy, of Petersfield, Hants, had once instructed Prince Charles as he trained as a communications officer in the Navy.
Mr Dykes said: "I queued for five hours to pay my respects in Westminster Hall on Friday. This is the final phase - to see her with her husband and daughter.
"I'm a Royalist - that's my religion. I was in charge of the coffin bearers at Lord Mountbatten's funeral in 1979."
Caroline Penayiotou, 37, of Windlesham, Surrey, brought her three-year-old son Andreas.
She said: "It's about being part of history and paying my respects to a very fine lady.
"I would have loved to have gone to London to see the lying in state but with a little one it's not so easy having to queue for hours and hours."