Queen’s funeral TV times and public holiday date in Australia

The Queen’s funeral will be broadcast in Australia on several different free-to-air channels at 8pm AEST on Monday, September 19. 

More than 2,000 dignitaries, including those from Australia and the rest of the Commonwealth, will descend on Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to the monarch, after 70 years on the throne and to mark the end of 10 days of mourning. 

Australians will be able to watch all the pomp and circumstance live on mainstream channels including Channels Seven, Nine and ABC.

Here’s Daily Mail Australia’s guide to where to catch the rolling coverage, which personalities are anchoring each broadcast and why Australia won’t get a public holiday until three days after Queen Elizabeth II is laid to rest. 

ABC 

You can catch the procession on ABC TV and ABC iView or listen to the coverage on ABC News Radio. 

You can also tune in to the ABC Listen app. 

Channel 7 

The Seven Network will start rolling coverage of the event from 7pm after the nightly news.

It is expected to continue into the night and the Sunrise team will follow on the next morning, most likely from Buckingham Palace. 

A Seven spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the network will have a range of personalities reporting on the funeral, including David Koch, Natalie Barr, Edwina Bartholomew, Michael Usher, Hugh Whitfield and Bianca Stone. 

An extensive team of expert British royal commentators will also be taking part in the broadcast.

The Seven Network will have a range of personalities in London reporting on the funeral, including David Koch and Natalie Barr (pictured)

Channel 9 

Viewers can tune into the Nine Network from as early as 11.30am, nearly nine hours before the service begins. 

The coverage will then be hosted by Georgie Gardner and Tom Steinfort until 2.30pm. 

Afterwards, Tracy Grimshaw, Peter Overton, Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon will host later in the evening and into the morning. 

Network Nine’s Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon (pictured) will host on Monday evening and into the morning

The Nine Network will start covering the event from as early as 11.30am on Monday, nearly nine hours before the service begins (pictured, Prince Harry and Meghan walk behind Prince William and Kate at the Palace of Westminster on Wednesday)

What you will see 

The event will start with the Queen’s coffin brought to Westminster Abbey in Central London on Monday, where the state funeral will take place at 11am UK time (8pm AEST). 

After that it will travel in a convoy to Wellington Arch, then on to Windsor before arriving at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle via the Long Walk.

A service will be held at 4pm (1am AEST) before the Queen’s coffin will be lowered into the Royal Vault on the grounds. 

This is where her late husband Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh was laid to rest last year and where other family members lie. 

Prince Phillip’s remains are expected to be relocated to alongside the Queen in the King George VI Memorial Chapel on the same grounds. 

The Queen’s coffin will travel in a convoy to Wellington Arch (pictured) from Westminster Abbey in London 

It will then go on to Windsor before arriving at St. George’s Chapel (pictured), Windsor Castle via the Long Walk

Why Australia’s public holiday comes after the funeral  

Australia’s public holiday will come three days after the Queen’s funeral – contrary to what many would expect (pictured, the Queen waves to onlookers in Bourke, NSW in 2000)

Australia’s public holiday will come three days after the Queen’s funeral – contrary to what many would expect. 

In the UK, the funeral will be held on a public holiday – while Australia’s will go ahead on September 22, a Thursday, and the day prior to Melbourne’s AFL Grand FInal Public Holiday.

This is because the Prime Minister and Governor General need to be back in the country for the public holiday to attend remembrance events in Canberra.

During the funeral, they will be in London, so will need a few days to get back home.

‘(it is) because of the protocols that have been in place for decades indicated that the national remembrance day should be the day after the Governor-General (David Hurley) and myself return from London,’ Mr Albanese explained. 

‘These aren’t things that were put into place under my Prime Ministership, this has been worked out over many, many years.’

Tracy Grimshaw, Peter Overton, Karl Stefanovic and Allison Langdon will host from 2.30pm onwards (pictured, Stefanovic and Langdon)

The Seven Network will start their rolling coverage of the event from 7pm AEST on the Monday, after the news, while Channel 9 will cover the event from as early as 11.30am AEST  (pictured, the state hearse arriving at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday)