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The family of New Zealand mountaineering legend, Sir Edmund Hillary, who died last month, will have a private meeting with the Queen after a service in London in April.
A formal service of thanksgiving in Sir Ed's honour would be held at Windsor Castle on April 2, to be hosted by the Queen, Buckingham Palace announced overnight.
A small number of seats will be available for members of the public inside St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle and the public could also apply for places in the Lower Ward, or Court, of Windsor Castle to hear the Service broadcast outdoors, Prime Minister Helen Clark's office announced today.
Several hundred tickets would be distributed by a ballot organised by Buckingham Palace and the New Zealand High Commission in London.
The service would include the laying up of Sir Edmund's Knight of the Garter banner, when it was returned to his family, said Miss Clark in her statement.
Sir Ed's knighthood was a rare honour when he was made a Knight of the Garter, the oldest British Order of Chivalry.
"Other aspects of the service will be developed in consultation with the Hillary family," Miss Clark's statement said.
"The Hillary family will also attend a private audience with Her Majesty following the service," she said.
"The Service of Thanksgiving at Windsor Castle will be a special and rare event. These exceptional arrangements reflect the personal and historical associations of the Queen with Sir Edmund since the beginning of her reign," she said.
Sir Ed and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay conquered the 8848-metre Mt Everest on May 29, 1953, on the eve of Queen Elizabeth's coronation.
Sir Ed died on January 11, aged 88.
His ashes will be scattered on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour later this month in a private ceremony attended only by family, friends and some official guests.
The service was to be on the sail training ship Spirit of New Zealand and yesterday Miss Clark's office said the family was still grieving deeply and wanted it to be a private service.
In his book, View from the Summit, published nearly 10 years ago Sir Ed said he had never had any desire to end his days at the bottom of a crevasse on a mountain.
"I've been down too many of them for that to have much appeal."
He said he wanted to die peacefully and wanted his ashes "spread on the beautiful waters of Auckland's Hauraki Gulf to be washed gently ashore maybe on the many pleasant beaches near the place where I was born.
"Then the full circle of my life will be complete."
- NZPA
