Fri | Oct 17, 2025

Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral cost UK government £162 million

Published:Thursday | May 18, 2023 | 11:38 AM
Members of the public file past as King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward hold a vigil beside the coffin of their mother, Queen Elizabeth II, as it lies in state on the catafalque in Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, London, September 16, 2022. Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and lying-in-state last year cost Britain's government an estimated 162 million pounds (around US$200 million), the treasury said Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Yui Mok/Pool Photo via AP, File)

LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and lying-in-state last year cost Britain's government an estimated 162 million pounds (around US$200 million), the treasury revealed Thursday.

The state funeral for the late monarch, held on September 19, was the first in the UK since that of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965.

The occasion, attended by world leaders and dignitaries, followed 10 days of national mourning after the queen died at age 96 on September 8 after 70 years on the throne.

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 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.

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