The Archbishop of Canterbury hopes he won’t have to conduct the Queen’s funeral service.
The Most Revd Justin Welby is hoping "God willing" that it would be someone else presiding over the ceremony when the 91-year-old monarch passes away.
He said: "I don’t lose sleep [but] I do hope I don’t have to do that. Yes, I do [know how big it would be]. It’s enormous whoever does it – God willing someone else – because it is an enormous public event. But as a parish priest, at every funeral you think about the enormousness of it."
And the Archbishop thinks Queen Elizabeth is the "most extraordinary person" he has ever met.
Speaking to GQ magazine, he added: "I don’t want to get into details because it is not something I want to talk about, but the Queen is the most extraordinary person, one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met, in every possible way. When it happens it will be the most extraordinary historic moment."
It comes after it was revealed that Operation London Bridge will kick in when the Queen passes away. Sir Christopher Geidt, the Queen’s private secretary, will receive the news first and then will contact the prime minister, who will be told "London Bridge is down" on secure lines to avoid the news coming out prematurely.
From the Foreign Office’s Global Response Centre, the 15 governments outside the UK who the Queen is the head of state for will be told before the other 36 other Commonwealth nations will be made aware.
The Archbishop of Canterbury hopes he won’t conduct Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
