Chaplains support Op London Bridge

"It was a day when people stood still - on the streets and in their homes - to witness Queen Elizabeth II's final journey.

Royals and world leaders were inside Westminster Abbey. But outside there were many more, ordinary mourners lining the streets of central London. And further beyond - in living rooms and parks, in pubs, cinemas and town squares - the British public marked the first state funeral for nearly six decades in millions of individual ways."*

The Funeral of Her Late Majesty the Queen was also one of the largest policing operations we have seen in recent history and so of course wherever there are large numbers of police you will also find chaplains.

Since the day of the announcement of the death of Her Majesty chaplains have led services, 2-minute silences, wreath laying, and supported their officers and staff whilst policing the funeral itself. 

Chaplains were in Windsor from the Thursday before Her Majesty's funeral supporting the officers and staff from police forces all across the UK and their presence was extremely welcome and chaplains from the Metropolitan Police Service supported their officers all through this time. 

In Surrey and Sussex, 14 Chaplains were involved in supporting officers and staff working on Operation London Bridge following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  Chaplains provided additional care to the police at Gatwick who were kept particularly busy welcoming visiting dignitaries and their security teams and provided support within the Tactical Coordinating Centre to Commanders and support staff.  On the day of the funeral itself, from very early in the morning, before dawn, Chaplains joined the masses of officers gathering at HQ for breakfast and briefings before travelling by coach to line the funeral route through Surrey

 The motto of Police Chaplaincy UK is "bringing chaplaincy into the heart of policing" and it's at times like this when it couldn't be truer.

*BBC news