Sunshine Coasters have joined with mourners Australia-wide to experience live telecasts of the Queen’s funeral service at Westminster Abbey, ahead of a day of mourning when they will be able to pay their respects to the long-reigning monarch.
Thursday has been declared a one-off public holiday, when a national memorial service will be broadcast from Parliament House in Canberra.
All state and territory leaders, as well as justices of the High Court, will attend the service.
On Monday night Australian time, the Queen’s body was taken from London’s Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey for a funeral service attended by many world leaders, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
A committal service was held at St George’s Chapel at Windsor following the funeral before the Queen was buried in a private ceremony alongside her husband Philip, who died last year aged 99.
The Queen was laid to rest in the The King George VI Memorial Chapel, where her father, mother and sister are also buried.
In Sydney, mourners filled the pews at St Andrew’s Cathedral to watch a live screening of the funeral following a solemn choral service and 45 minutes of bells ringing.
People in the church stood as they watched images of the Queen’s coffin being carried into Westminster Abbey, thousands of kilometres away.
Simon Perdriau, who attended the service, said: “I’ve been crying for the last 10 days, and I’ll cry tonight as well.”
Mr Albanese was among more than 2000 people attending the funeral, and was joined by Governor-General David Hurley and a small delegation of Australians.
The Prime Minister said he and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton would give short tributes to the late monarch at Thursday’s memorial service.
Assistant minister to the prime minister Patrick Gorman said Australia’s connection with Britain ran deep and the unity expressed following the Queen’s death served as a reminder of those ties.
“What we will see on Thursday when we have the memorial service is more examination and reflection on those deep ties that Queen Elizabeth II had with Australia,” he said.
“I was definitely surprised at how emotional I felt watching the service.”
Mr Gorman said both republicans and monarchists had been able to unite in their admiration for the Queen’s lifetime of service, while acknowledging some in the community, such as Indigenous Australians, might view the monarchy in a darker light.
“It’s really important those perspectives are shared,” he said.
“The history of Australia, as we know, didn’t start in 1788 and indeed not all of our history is history of which we can stand proud today.”
Protocols set in place dictate that the Australian day of mourning will be held the day after the prime minister and governor-general return from the UK.
When parliament returns on Friday, politicians will have the opportunity to express their condolences to the royal family.
