The Queen has unveiled the Foundation Stone for the new King Charles III Sacristy at Westminster Abbey, joking that the last time she visited the construction site, there had been "quite a lot of skeletons".
Joining the Duke of Buccleuch in removing a red cloth from the engraving, she told guests attending a ceremony to mark the occasion: "I just want to say how delighted I am to unveil this foundation stone. I can't believe that last time I visited here that there is now a floor, last time I came, there were quite a lot of skeletons.
"I just hope that in 2026, when it is due to finish, that God willing, my husband and I will be back here again to open the King Charles III Sacristy."
The Sacristy is being constructed on the north side of the Abbey, on the footprint of a medieval building. Excavations of the site uncovered the remains of monks, briefly halting works before they were covered with a protective layer to allow building work to resume.
© GettyCamilla unveiled the stone during a ceremony attended by benefactors and supporters of the project, including its ambassador Alan Titchmarsh.
Speaking to the TV presenter, who she greeted with a kiss later, she said: "Hello Alan, it's either in the garden or at Westminster Abbey - and Chelsea next week. As ever, it's lovely to see you."
She again joked of her last visit to the Sacristy site in October last year: "It was full of skeletons, it was quite spooky, wasn't it?"
© GettyAmong guests at the ceremony were Princess Charlotte’s godfather Thomas van Straubenzee, a close friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and venture capitalist Matt Cohler.
Catherine Armitage, wife of hedge fund manager John, read the lesson, before an address by the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, who is High Steward of the Abbey.
The Duke told the Queen: "The unveiling of a foundation stone [at the Abbey] by a member of the royal family has been recorded only on two occasions, by King Henry III 805 years ago, almost to the day on the 16th rather than the 14th of May, and then in 2016 when His Majesty unveiled the foundation stone of the Tower and the Jubilee Galleries.
"And as we have pretty much run out of building sites, it may be the last. So you'll see, Ma'am, that this really is a very special occasion, and that in unveiling a stone here, you are in good company."
© Getty ImagesThe Sacristy will house new welcome, security and ticketing facilities, allowing the Abbey itself to be preserved as a sacred space.
The Queen, who is Patron of the Westminster Abbey Sacristy Project, was escorted to the site by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle and members of the Chapter and joined by her sister Annabel Elliot for the ceremony, which included prayers and a short performance of Anton Bruckner's Locus Iste by the Abbey choir.
Afterwards, she chatted to Ian Bartlett, Clerk of the Works, telling him: "Full steam ahead, it's very exciting."
She also congratulated stonemason Mark Croll on his "beautiful" carving on the foundation stone before speaking to architect Ptolemy Dean.
© Getty ImagesThe sacristy building is being constructed on the footprint of the medieval Great Sacristy, built in the 1250s during Henry III's reconstruction of the Abbey for monks to store vestments, altar linens, and other sacred items used in daily worship.
It also played an important role in the life of the Abbey as a place for the formation of processions on church and state occasions.
Designed in sympathy with the Abbey's Gothic architecture by architect Ptolemy Dean, the new building will reflect the history of the original by freeing the Abbey for worship and pilgrimage, and will once again serve as a gathering place on major state occasions.
After the service, the Queen went into the Abbey to meet staff, including the visitor and facilities and conservation teams, stopping to admire the recently updated memorial to the Brontë sisters.
The distinctive dots over the 'e' were restored to ensure the authors are remembered in the way they themselves wrote their names. She told Adrian Harris, head of communications, "I see your Instagram, it's very good," then, chatting to the IT team, she joked, "I'm always impressed, being a technophobe myself."
