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Westminster Abbey in central London has been the site of coronations, weddings and burials of English and then British royalty for nearly 1,000 years.
On Monday, it will be the venue for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth, who died on Sept. 8 in Balmoral, Scotland, at the age of 96. She was also married and crowned in the Abbey.
* The original church was built on the site of a monastery in the 11th century by King Edward the Confessor. The present church – one of the British capital’s best known landmarks – dates from 1245, when construction began under the auspices of King Henry III.
* The Abbey website says: “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s connection with Westminster Abbey ran like a thread through her early life and her long reign.
“As an 11-year-old girl, she watched as her father was crowned here. As a young adult, she married here and was crowned here. She continued to come to the Abbey regularly to attend celebrations and commemorations of national and international significance and to attend family weddings and funerals.
