Queen Elizabeth to lie in state at Westminster Hall following procession of coffin

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for the final time Wednesday, her coffin borne by a horse-drawn gun carriage and trailed by grieving members of the family throughout a 38-minute journey to the Homes of Parliament, the place it is going to lie in state till the funeral early subsequent week.

With the royal commonplace and crown of state resting on prime of the coffin and artillery firing salutes at one-minute intervals, the solemn procession was designed to underscore the queen’s 70 years as head of state because the nationwide mourning course of shifts to the grand boulevards and historic landmarks of the U.Okay. capital.

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King Charles III, his sons Princes William and Harry and different members of the royal household walked behind the gun carriage. Massive Ben’s bells tolled and a gun salute boomed because the coffin proceeded alongside The Mall to the martial strains of a navy band.

The coffin was draped within the Royal Customary and topped with the Imperial State Crown – adorned with nearly 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and vegetation together with pine from the Balmoral Property, the place Elizabeth died final week.

Crowds of mourners massed alongside the flag-lined street, the Mall, outdoors the palace for the procession from the monarch’s official London residence to the historic Westminster Corridor at Parliament.

Hundreds extra had been standing or sitting in line alongside the banks of the River Thames ready their flip to file previous the coffin when it lies in state for 4 days earlier than the queen’s state funeral on Monday.

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The crowds are the newest manifestation of a nationwide outpouring of grief and respect for the one monarch most Britons have ever recognized, who died at her beloved Balmoral summer season retreat on Thursday at age 96, ending a 70-year reign.

Joan Bucklehurst, a 50-year-old retail employee from Cheshire in northwestern England, stated the queen “meant a lot for everyone.”

“She was superb, yeah,” she added, choking up with emotion. “So, we needed to be right here. We have been right here just a few occasions when there have been particular events, however this one, I could not miss this.”

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Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, of the Family division, who organized the ceremonial features of the queen’s funeral stated it was a tragic day, “but it surely’s our final alternative to do our responsibility for the queen and it is our first alternative to do it for the king, and that makes us all very proud.”

London’s Heathrow Airport halted flights to forestall overhead planes disturbing the procession.

The airport stated in an announcement that the adjustments would “guarantee silence over central London because the ceremonial procession strikes from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Corridor.”

Troops concerned within the procession have been making ready because the queen died. So have the horses of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.

Sgt. Tom Jenks, from the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, stated that the horses have undergone particular coaching, together with methods to deal with weeping mourners, in addition to flowers and flags being thrown onto streets because the procession passes by.

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Because the early morning, folks staked out prime viewing positions behind metallic boundaries alongside the Mall and different streets alongside the route. They stood or sat on folding chairs, umbrellas on the prepared, takeout coffees in hand.

Crowds have lined the route of the queen’s coffin every time it has been moved in its lengthy journey from Scotland again to London.

On Tuesday evening, hundreds braved a typical London drizzle because the state hearse, with inside lights illuminating the sovereign’s flag-draped casket, drove slowly from a navy air base into the center of London.

Earlier, in Edinburgh, some 33,000 folks filed in silent respect previous her coffin because it lay for twenty-four hours at St. Giles’ Cathedral.

A whole lot of hundreds are anticipated to do the identical in London when the queen lies in state on the 900-year-old Westminster Corridor, the oldest constructing in Parliament, for 4 days earlier than her state funeral on Monday.

The corridor is the place Man Fawkes and Charles I had been tried, the place kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets, and the place ceremonial addresses had been introduced to Queen Elizabeth II throughout her silver, golden and diamond jubilees.

Chris Bond, from Truro in southwest England, was amongst these lining up alongside the banks of the River Thames. He additionally attended the mendacity in state of the queen’s mom in 2002.

“Clearly, it is fairly tough queuing all day lengthy, however whenever you stroll by these doorways into Westminster Corridor, that marvellous, historic constructing, there was an important sense of hush and one was instructed you are taking as a lot time as you want, and it is simply superb,” he stated.

“We all know the queen was age and he or she served the nation a very long time, however we hoped this present day would by no means come,” he added.

Chris Imafidon, secured the sixth place within the queue.

“I’ve 1,001 feelings after I see her,” he stated. “I wish to say, God, she was an angel, as a result of she touched many good folks and did so many good issues.”