BRITAIN’s longest-serving monarch Queen Elizabeth II has been laid to rest Monday (19), 11 days after she died at Balmoral Castle aged 96.
To attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, hundreds of dignitaries from across the world gathered in London on Monday.
The late Queen’s four children, King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward, as well as their husbands, Sophie, Countess of Wessex, and Sir Tim Laurence, attended the burial. Sarah Ferguson, the ex-wife of the Duke of York, was also present.
The guest list for the funeral included everyday honourees from the Asian diaspora.
An invitation was sent to Hsien Chew, 49, a London resident and the founder of Proud Voices, a network of 55 LGBTQ+ choirs throughout Britain and Ireland. He described this as a “great privilege”.
“I had a question in the back of my mind: ‘Why me?'” he said in a phone call. He said that possibly the idea was to depict the many groups in Britain and the ways in which the nation had transformed under Elizabeth.
“She’s seen a lot of fundamental changes to the British society,” he said. “From a community that was very parochial, quite conservative and hierarchical to one that is much more equitable with much greater plurality and much greater recognition of diversity.”
The invitation surprised Pranav Bhanot, 34, a lawyer in Essex who during the height of the epidemic offered free assistance to those whose lives were interrupted by the virus and assisted in distributing 1,200 free dinners.
“I didn’t expect it in a million years,” he said.
“She had this really good ability to connect with very normal members of the public,” Bhanot said. “And I kind of count myself as a very normal member of the public.
“Being in the same room as the president of the US, for me is something that I haven’t quite got my head around,” he added.
Bhanot believed that the diversity of attendees at the burial spoke much about the queen.
Other diaspora organisations such as the British Indian think-tank, 1928 Institute, spoke of a “sombre cloud over the British Indian community” with the Queen passing away and various groups have taken to social media to express their condolences to the royal family.
British Indian musician producer and composer Nitin Sawhney CBE attended the funeral along with other prominent figures.
Many other well-known British Asians have paid tribute to the late monarch.
“It was palpable how connected she felt to India and the wider subcontinent, which makes up almost 75 per cent of the 2.5 billion people across the Commonwealth,” Lord Jitesh Gadhia said in the House of Lords.
Last Sunday, a gathering of around 600 representatives of temples and interfaith organisations from across the UK gathered for a prayer meeting organised by the Anoopam Mission, Swaminarayan Temple in west London.
“We loved Her Majesty the Queen, and the world loved her. As she said, the price of love is grief. We are grieving,” said Lord Karan Bilimoria, British Indian peer and founder of Cobra Beer.
Baroness Prashar thanked the queen for using her political savvy to contribute to the development of the contemporary commonwealth during tributes to her in the House of Lords.
Alok Sharma, Cabinet Minister and COP26 President spoke to the MPs on the effect of the late monarch and her heir in the field of climate action.
Priti Patel, former home secretary, recalled the “affection and warmth” of the Queen’s visit to her Essex district of Witham shortly after she was elected as an MP.
Gopichand P Hinduja, co-chairman of the Hinduja Group and chairman of Hinduja Automotive Limited, UK, paid a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
In his tribute to the late monarch, Hinduja, who belongs to one of Britain’s wealthiest business families and a neighbour to the monarch, said: “Today, the world grieves as Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is laid to rest. The funeral’s solemnity and modesty befit a sovereign, who for more than 70 years, ruled with modesty and grace, touching the hearts of millions the world over.
“It is very rare to find such type of human beings in the world. I do shed a tear for the loss of a leader who inspired love and devotion through her grace and wisdom.”
Saying that members of the Hinduja family mourned the late monarch’s death, the 82-year-old businessman added: “For 60 years, my family have lived in London. I and other family members of Hinduja have had the honour of meeting Her Majesty many a time and most recently at Windsor Castle last year.
“Her graciousness, kindness, and aura will remain with us forever more. Today, we all say thank you and pray for Her Majesty. May her soul rest in peace and the Almighty bless her.”
About 500 kings, queens, prime ministers, and presidents gathered in London over the weekend to pay their respects to the late queen.
Leaders from the Commonwealth, whose head the queen was during her reign, were there, together with former and current British prime ministers.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Indian President Droupadi Murmu were present.
Along with the King of Bhutan, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, other guests included the Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. Royal representatives from Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Tonga, UAE, Bahrain, Belgians, Brunei, Denmark, Jordan, Kuwait, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Sweden were present.
William Ruto, the president of Kenya, attended the Queen’s burial along with other international leaders. While on a royal tour with her husband, Prince Philip, the queen learned of her father’s passing and was forced to take the throne in Kenya.
US President Joe Biden joined other world leaders for the state funeral. Ten guests, including Theitia Paki, the Maori King, were brought by Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand. Justin Trudeau and Anthony Albanese, her colleagues from Australia and Canada, were also there.
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