Pakistan to observe day of mourning on Monday over Queen Elizabeth’s death

Pakistan will observe a day of mourning on Monday (tomorrow) over the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.

Upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif accorded his approval for observing a day of mourning in Pakistan, on September 12, on the demise of Queen Elizabeth II, PM Office Media Wing said in a press release.

The Cabinet Division was directed to take further necessary steps in this regard.

Separately, in a Twitter post, Pakistan High Commission in London said: “To express solidarity with the government and people of the United Kingdom on the sad demise of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Pakistan will observe a national day of mourning on 12 Sept. 2022. During the day, Pakistan’s flag will be lowered to half-mast throughout the country.”

The funeral of Britain's Queen Elizabeth will be held on Monday, September 19 at 1000 GMT, England's most senior peer who is in charge of state occasions said on Saturday.

The coffin will be taken from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh on Sunday before being flown to London on Tuesday. It will later lie in state at Westminster Hall from Wednesday until the morning of the funeral which will take place at London's Westminster Abbey.

"We will carry out our duty over the coming days with the heaviest of hearts, but also with the firmest of resolve to ensure a fitting farewell to one of the defining figures of our times," said the Earl Marshal, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the Duke of Norfolk.

The queen's body currently rests in an oak coffin covered with the royal standard of Scotland and with a wreath of flowers laid on top in the ballroom of Balmoral Castle.

"It is a scene of quiet dignity," a senior palace official said.