The death of the Queen Mother set in motion Operation Tay Bridge, a plan detailing procedures including the dissemination of information, national mourning, and her funeral.

On 13 February she slipped in her sitting room at Sandringham,[8] causing considerable concern to her daughter, the Queen, and the rest of the royal family, but she travelled to Windsor by helicopter the following day.

[9] She attended the funeral on 15 February in a people carrier with blacked–out windows,[10][11] (which had recently been used by Margaret)[12][13] shielded from the press according to her wishes so that no photographs of her in a wheelchair could be taken.

On 5 March 2002 she attended lunch at the annual lawn party of the Eton Beagles, and watched the Cheltenham races on television; however, her health rapidly deteriorated during her last weeks after retreating to Royal Lodge for the final time.

[30][31] The Archbishop of Canterbury delivered a statement to the House of Lords, praising the Queen Mother for "her marvellous example of service and duty".

[34] On the BBC, Peter Sissons formally announced the death of the Queen Mother, although he created controversy and criticism from some newspapers as he wore a burgundy tie and not a black one, deemed more appropriate for such news.

[45] Flags at Volgograd, a Russian city of which the Queen Mother was an honorary citizen, also flew half-mast after the announcement of her death and until the day of her funeral.

[49][50] The queue of mourners stretched over a mile along the River Thames and over Lambeth Bridge, causing officials to extend the planned opening times.

[51] The published order of service included as a preface the verse beginning "You can shed tears that she is gone" (attributed to an anonymous author) selected by the Queen.

The verse became widely popular after the funeral, and was later revealed to be based on a poem written some 20 years earlier by David Harkins, an aspiring artist from Carlisle.

It started at 9:48 am on 9 April 2002, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey sounded 101 times, each chime representing a year that the Queen Mother had lived.

[55] The coffin was then taken to the Abbey, about 300 metres away, accompanied by drummers and a massed pipe band of 192 musicians drawn from 13 British and Commonwealth regiments.

[60] During the funeral the Union Flag flew at half mast over Buckingham Palace, and her own personal royal standard at Clarence House (the Queen Mother's official London residence since 1952).

[65] Members of the royal family were chauffeured to the Abbey's Great West Door at 11:05 am to be received by the Dean of Westminster (Wesley Carr) and Chapter, and conducted to St. George's Chapel.

Two minutes later, the visiting clergy participating in the service, such as the then Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, processed along the centre aisle of the Abbey.

The sermon was given by Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury,[67] and a reading from The Pilgrim's Progress was given by the Reverend Anthony Burnham, the Moderator of The Free Churches Group.

The service finished with the Last Post, the proclamation of the Queen Mother's styles and titles by the Garter King at Arms Peter Gwynn-Jones, Reveille and the national anthem.

The voluntary was the Prelude and Fugue in E flat, BWV552 by Johann Sebastian Bach, and the Abbey bells rang half-muffled to a peal of Stedman Caters of 5101 changes.

[64] After the funeral of the Queen Mother on 9 April, the wreath that had been placed on her coffin was removed and laid on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, in a nod to her gesture on her wedding day in 1923.