Buckingham Palace guards were spotted rehearsing through the night for the procession of the Queen's coffin, with photos from the Mall giving a possible insight into what next week's funeral could look like.
Scores of military staff from the Household Division were seen in the early hours of Tuesday morning making preparations for Operation Lion, the procession of the late monarch's coffin from the Palace to Westminster Hall.
Scots Guards and Royal Guards, dressed in their ceremonial attire, could be seen practicing in the inner courtyard shortly after 4.45am.
The regiments marched down the Mall in what would be their only practice ahead of receiving the Queen's coffin this evening, which will remain in the Bow Room at Buckingham Palace overnight.
A gun carriage carried a stand-in coffin pulled by seven black horses, while police officers on horseback followed the regiments along the planned route.
Many of central London’s streets were sealed off for the massive operation.
The real procession begins at 2.22pm on Wednesday, and it will last 38 minutes.
It will go through the Queen's Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.
King Charles and other senior members of the royal family will follow on foot, followed by senior staff of both the Queen’s and the King’s Households, and then close personal staff.
The silent procession will hear only the tolls of Big Ben and minute guns, fired from Hyde Park by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
Servicemen and women from the Royal Air Force, Army and Navy will form a guard of honour along sections of the route.
The King's Life Guard will give a royal salute as the coffin passes through Horse Guards Arch.
As the procession reaches its final destination at around 3pm, the coffin is expected to be taken through the North door of Westminster Hall.
It will be carried inside to the catafalque by the Queen's Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards bearer company and a vigil will be mounted around it.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will conduct a short service, before Westminster Hall is opened to the public for four days so they may pay their respects.
Given the time of the rehearsal, only a few onlookers were present for the military spectacular, with some finding themselves there by chance.
However, one small group were camping outside Buckingham Palace.
John Lowell, from Streatham, south London, said he was “devastated” by the news of the Queen’s death, adding: “We are all broken-hearted. I can’t take it in.”
His friend, Sky London, told the PA news agency they have been camping since Thursday “so we can get a good view of things” and insisted they will not leave until after the funeral, so that they can pay their “respects”.
He added: “Ten days (of camping) against a 70-year reign is only a fraction.”
People have been warned not to wait or camp along the route where the Queen’s coffin will be taken for the lying in state.
Viewing areas along the route with limited capacity will open at 11am on the day, with people admitted in order of arrival time amid expected long queues, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said.
The Queen’s coffin will remain in Westminster Hall until Monday, when it will be taken in procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral service.
Members of the public will have the opportunity to visit Westminster Hall to pay their respects during the lying in state but security staff said the queue is likely to snake for miles, potentially all the way along the River Thames to Tower Bridge.
