The Queen's Final Flight Made History In An Unexpected Way

On the night of September 13, Queen Elizabeth II's coffin left Edinburgh for the last time, flying on a Royal Air Force Globemaster C-17 back to London. According to BBC News via Twitter, the queen's final journey quickly became the most tracked flight in history. Approximately 6 million people attempted to follow the RAF plane as it made its way back to Northolt military station, causing the site Flightradar24 to crash. As noted by Flightradar24's director of communications via email, "70 years after her first flight as queen aboard the BOAC Argonaut 'Atalanta,' Queen Elizabeth II's final flight is the most tracked flight in Flightradar24 history," per Reuters. According to CNN, U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's journey to Taipei in early August 2022 previously held the record.

On the morning of Wednesday, September 14, the queen was brought through the streets of London to Westminster, where she will lie in state until the royal funeral. The ceremony, scheduled for 11 a.m. BTS (or 6 a.m. EDT) on Monday, September 19, will be broadcast live worldwide. However, a select 2,000 special guests are invited to attend in person (via Town & Country). Queen Elizabeth II was said to have had a heavy hand in planning her upcoming funeral, asking for it to take place at the very site of her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and 1953 Coronation.