The Queen’s funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey on September 19th at 11am, the Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk has said.
The late Queen is currently lying in an oak coffin in the ballroom at Balmoral Castle, covered by a royal standard and a floral wreath, where estate staff have been able to pay their respects
Tomorrow six gamekeepers from the Balmoral Estate will carry Her Majesty’s coffin to a waiting hearse which will make a slow six-hour journey to Edinburgh, where it will be taken into the throne room of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official royal residence in Scotland.
On Monday the King and Queen Consort will travel behind the coffin on its way from Holyroodhouse to St Giles’s Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland will be placed on the coffin.
There will be a service and then the late Queen will lie in state in the Cathedral for 24 hours to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects.
On Tuesday at 5pm the coffin will be taken on the 45-minute journey from St Giles’s Cathedral to Edinburgh Airport, where the Princess Royal will accompany the coffin on the flight to RAF Northolt in London.
The coffin will be taken in a state hearse to Buckingham Palace, where it will remain in the Bow Room overnight.
On Wednesday the coffin will be adorned by the Imperial State Crown, and members of the Royal family will say prayers before the coffin leaves the Palace on a gun carriage on a journey to Westminster Hall at the Houses of Parliament.
Members of the Royal family will walk behind the coffin, with minute guns firing from nearby parks and Big Ben tolling before the coffin is taken into Westminster Hall and the Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service.
The late Queen will lie in state for four clear days during which members of the public will be able to file past it to pay their respects.
At 6.30am on Monday 19th the public lying in state will end, before the State funeral at Westminster Abbey at 11am that morning.
Earlier today it was announced that the day of the funeral will be a Bank Holiday
Meanwhile Prince William and Princess Kate, the new Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have arrived at Windsor to greet crowds of well-wishers outside Windsor Castle.
In the first statement released by the Prince of Wales since Queen Elizabeth II’s death, William said: “She was by my side at my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life.”
Earlier today King Charles III accompanied by The Queen Consort, held Audiences with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Prime Minister and Members of the Cabinet, and Opposition Party Leaders.
The Prime Minister is to accompany the King on his tour of the UK in the coming days.He is to visit Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff
