Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be held on Monday, September 19, at Westminster Abbey in London, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
The Queen will lay in state for four days before her funeral on September 19, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
She will be taken from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday, where the coffin will be rested on a raised platform, known as a catafalque.
Her coffin will be draped in the Royal Standard flag and once in Westminster Hall it will be topped with the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre.
Members of the public will then be able to file past and pay their respects.
The grand hall is the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster, at the heart of the British government.
The last member of the Royal Family to lie in state in the hall was the Queen Mother in 2002, when more than 200,000 people queued to view
Princess Anne to bring mother to London
Princess Anne will accompany Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin to London ahead of the funeral, Buckingham Palace says.
The monarch died peacefully on Thursday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
Buckingham Palace said the coffin would depart for Edinburgh airport on Tuesday and then be flown to London by RAF Northolt, with the Queen’s only daughter on board.
The coffin is expected to arrive at Buckingham Palace at 20:00 GMT on Tuesday, where King Charles III and Queen Camilla will witness its arrival.
Bank holiday to mark funeral
The UK will have a bank holiday on Monday 19 September for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
The bank holiday in honour of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was approved earlier today by King Charles III.
It marks the final stage of a period of national mourning.
As we reported, the Queen’s state funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey.
The historic church is where Britain’s kings and queens are crowned, and where Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip in 1947.
Heads of state from across the world will be invited to join members of the Royal Family to remember the life and service of the Queen.
Senior UK politicians and former prime ministers are also expected to attend the service, which will be televised.
Queen’s final journey to end in sombre grandeur
The Queen’s final journey will begin tomorrow with her oak coffin being carried by her Balmoral gamekeepers, her own staff bringing her to a hearse that will take her to Edinburgh.
That journey, beginning in simplicity, will end with the sombre grandeur of a state funeral in Westminster Abbey.
It will be the first state funeral that many of us will have seen, with the last being Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.
The public will be able to pay their own respects when the Queen’s coffin will be in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, and then over four full days in Westminster Hall in London.
King Charles will also have to carry out a series of engagements – as well as taking part in the mourning for his mother in Scotland, he will also go to meet political and civic leaders in Northern Ireland and Wales.
After the first phase of mourning, the planning for the funeral is now moving into place.
The service will likely be conducted by the Dean of Westminster David Hoyle, with the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby giving the sermon. Prime Minister Liz Truss may be called on to read a lesson.
