Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to queue for hours to visit the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state at Westminster Hall in London this week. The public will be able to visit and pay their respects from the evening of Wednesday, September 14 to Monday, September 19, the day of the official state funeral.
The Queen made her final journey from Buckingham Palace as her family, including The King, Princess Anne, Prince William, Prince Harry, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind her coffin ahead of her lying in state at Westminster Hall. Silence fell among the thousands-strong crowd as a muffled drum draped in black was beaten at 75 paces per minute. The coffin was draped in the Royal Standard, with the Imperial State Crown on a velvet cushion with a wreath of flowers atop, and carried on a gun carriage of King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
During the Lying-in-State period, the coffin rests on a raised platform in the middle of Westminster Hall. Members of the public are free to file past the platform and pay their respects. The route for those queueing up to see the Queen’s coffin will start on the Albert Embankment and run down behind the London Eye onto the Southbank before reaching ‘maximum capacity’ at Southwark Park – nearly five miles away.
