Václav Havel leaves Prague Castle for the last time

President Václav Havel has left Prague Castle for the last time. After the state funeral in St. Vitus Cathedral, the coffin bearing his remains was carried through the Golden Gate to the tolling of the cathedral bells and sent to the crematorium for private burial this afternoon.

Prior to the removal of the coffin, the national anthem was played, accompanied by a 21-gun salute from cannon on Petřín Hill. Havel’s widow Dagmar sang the words to the national anthem. People gathered in the castle courtyards and on Hradčanské náměstí applauded as the coffin was carried out of the cathedral.

The funeral was attended by dignitaries from all over the world. At the end of the Requiem Mass, eulogies were delivered by Czech President Václav Klaus, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, and the former Secretary of State of the United States of America, Madeleine Albright. The eulogies mainly spoke about freedom and the need to fight for it.

Czech President Klaus said that while much was being lost with Havel’s departure, the idea that freedom is worth sacrifice would never be lost. Schwarzenberg promised that he and others would continue to strive to realize the truth and love the late Havel did his best to achieve. Albright said no one was more of a Czech than the late president, who was one of the most-respected human beings on the planet.

At the start of the mass, papal emissary Giovanni Coppa read a letter from Pope Benedict XVI including a personal message of encouragement for Mr Havel’s family and the entire Czech Republic. The Act of Contrition with Confession was then read. Actor Josef Abrhám then read excerpts from the Book of Job. Abrhám, who played the role of the Chancellor in Havel’s film “Leaving” (Odcházení), read with great emotion: “Oh that my words were written!/ Oh that they were inscribed in a book!/ Oh that with an iron pen and lead/ They were graven in the rock forever!”

Mr Havel’s family and the current president were seated closest to the coffin. Czech President Václav Klaus and his wife Livia sat on the right of widow Dagmar Havlová, while on her left sat her daughter Nina, her daughter’s partner, and Havel’s brother Ivan with his wife Dagmar.

The rear portion of the cathedral was reserved for other guests and Havel’s colleagues, friends, and people from the dissident movement, but many chairs remained empty. People also followed the mass via live broadcasts onto big screens.