The Queen’s coffin has arrived in Edinburgh, ahead of her state funeral on Monday 19 September.
Members of the public will have the chance to pay their respects and view her coffin, first at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral and then at Westminster Hall – where the Queen will lie in state for four days.
King Charles III will also embark on a tour of all four nations that make up the UK.
Here is your guide to what will happen, day by day.
Today’s event. Monday September 12:
The King will begin the day in London with a visit to Westminster Hall, in the Palace of Westminster, where both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will meet to express their condolences, and Charles will make an address.
Accompanied by Camilla, Queen Consort, King Charles will then fly to Edinburgh, where at about 14:25 BST he will walk behind the Queen’s coffin from Edinburgh’s Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral.
Members of the public will be able to watch the procession as it moves along the Royal Mile.
A service to celebrate the Queen’s life will be held at 15:00. From 17:00, members of the public will be able to view the coffin which will lie at rest in the cathedral for 24 hours.
Officials say a queuing system will be in place, and further details will be announced shortly. Those attending are warned it is likely to involve standing for a number of hours.
The King will also travel to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where he will meet Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. He and the Queen Consort will then attend the Scottish Parliament where members will deliver a motion of condolence.
In the evening, King Charles will hold a vigil with other members of the Royal Family at St Giles’ Cathedral, where the Queen will lie at rest.
Tuesday September 13:
The Queen’s coffin will be moved from St Giles’ Cathedral to Edinburgh airport, and then by plane to RAF Northolt. The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, will accompany her.
The coffin is expected to arrive in London shortly before 19:00 and will then travel to Buckingham Palace, where it will be met by the King and Camilla.
The route, from St Giles’ Cathedral by road to Edinburgh Airport, is yet to be announced but members of the public will be able to view the cortege.
Earlier in the day, the King and Camilla will visit Belfast where he will meet Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, as well as other party leaders. After a meeting with religious leaders, King Charles and Camilla will attend a prayer service at St Anne’s Cathedral, before returning to London.
Wednesday September 14:
The Queen’s coffin will travel from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall shortly after 14:00, where it will lie in state for four days. Lying-in-state describes the formal occasion in which a coffin is placed on view before the funeral ceremony.
Crowds will be able to watch as the cortege makes the journey through central London – along Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.
The coffin will be adorned with the Imperial State Crown and carried on a gun carriage of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The King and members of the royal family will walk behind in a journey that will take 38 minutes.
Once in Westminster Hall, the coffin will rest on a raised platform. Each corner of the platform will be guarded 24-hours-a-day by soldiers from units that serve the Royal Household.
The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will conduct a short service, attended by King Charles and other members of the Royal Family, before the Hall is opened to the public.
Members of the public will be able to pay their respects to the Queen’s coffin from 17:00. Westminster Hall will remain open 24 hours a day until 06:30 on Monday 19 September. People are warned they may have to queue for many hours, possibly overnight, with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving.
Thursday September 15:
The day marks the first of four full days that the Queen’s body will lie in state in Westminster Hall, where she will remain until the morning of the funeral.
It is expected that hundreds of thousands of mourners will be able to pay their respects in the 11th-Century building, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster and the heart of the British government.
Friday September 16:
The Queen’s coffin will lie in state for the second full day in Westminster Hall, where people will be able to pay their respects.
The King and Camilla will travel to Wales, marking the final of his visits to all four nations of the United Kingdom as king.
Saturday September 17:
The Queen’s coffin will lie in state for the third full day in Westminster Hall.
Sunday September 18:
The Queen’s coffin will lie in state for the fourth full day in Westminster Hall.
Monday September 19:
The Queen’s lying in state will end, and the coffin will be taken in procession to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral, which is a Bank Holiday in the UK.
Among the guests will be members of her family, senior UK politicians and heads of state from across the world, and representatives from the charities she supported.
Following the funeral, the coffin will travel in procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, from where it will travel to Windsor.
The state hearse will then take the coffin along the Long Walk to St George’s Chapel in Windsor Chapel, where a committal service will take place.(BBC)
