A summary of today's developments
Prince William said walking behind his grandmother’s hearse on Wednesday was “challenging” and “brought back memories”.
As of 11pm, the queue stands at 4.9 miles long. The estimated waiting time is at least nine hours, according to the government tracker.
People continue to join, with one woman describing the Queen’s lying-in-state as a “piece of history that will never be repeated”.
The Queen’s state funeral will “unite people across the globe” and “pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign”, its organiser, the Duke of Norfolk, has said.
The House of Commons will sit again from next Thursday and the coming recess will be cut nearly a week short, it has been announced.
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, and the Scotland secretary, Alister Jack, joined other members of the Royal Company of Archers to stand vigil at the Queen’s coffin.
Heathrow airport has announced that it will stop all flights for 15 minutes before the two-minute national silence on Monday and 15 minutes afterwards as a “mark of respect” to the royal family.
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has paid tribute to the Queen, reflecting on meeting her for the first time when he was just a child and saying Canadians “feel like they have lost a family member”.
Vehicles from the motorcade of the US president, Joe Biden, have been spotted in London as the city prepares to receive hundreds of foreign dignitaries ahead of the Queen’s funeral.
A group of MPs and peers under sanctions from China have expressed serious concerns about the Chinese government being invited to the funeral.
The front page of Friday’s Guardian.
Guardian front page, Friday 16 September 2022: Truss to lift fracking ban despite lack of progress on tremor risks pic.twitter.com/jrjojnJp6p
— Guardian news (@guardiannews) September 15, 2022
A decision to not allow MPs’ staff to skip the queue to see the Queen’s coffin has been upheld by the House of Commons, Sky News is reporting.
A statement from the House of Commons said: “Unfortunately, based on the projected numbers we are expecting to join the queue over the coming days, it is not possible to open up access further without the risk of impacting access for queueing members of the public.
“The absolute priority has been to ensure as many members of the public as possible are able to pay their respects, many of whom have travelled from across the country and queued, often over nine or 10 hours.
“We do not in any way wish to jeopardise their ability to pass through Westminster Hall by introducing additional pressures on numbers.”
Updated
The Russian foreign ministry has said it is “profoundly immoral” that the country was not invited to send a delegate to the Queen’s state funeral on Monday.
It said: “We view this British attempt to use a national tragedy that has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world for geopolitical purposes to settle scores with our country during the days of mourning as profoundly immoral.
“This is especially blasphemous to the memory of Elizabeth II, who is known to have served during world war two in the territorial defence ranks of the British Armed Forces fighting the Nazis and their Ukrainian collaborators Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevich.
“Now the British elites are on their side.”
The Guardian reported earlier today that the Chinese vice-president, Wang Qishan, is to attend the Queen’s funeral in a move that has prompted complaints from a group of British Conservative MPs who have been banned from travelling to China due to their campaigns against Chinese repression.
Updated
Flying restrictions have been imposed in central London and Windsor on Monday for the Queen’s funeral, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said.
Between 6am and 8.59pm on September 19, no aircraft, including drones, are to fly below 2,500ft over those areas.
The ban includes any small balloon, any kite weighing not more than two kilograms, any unmanned aircraft and any parachute including a parascending parachute or paramotor.
The CAA said it had “decided that it is necessary in the interests of security” to bring in the measures.
Exceptions to the restrictions include aircraft flying from London City Airport, London Heathrow Airport, Royal Air Force Northolt and London Heliport.
Flights under the control of the National Police Air Service, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Helicopter Emergency Medical Services or the King’s Helicopter Flight will also be able to proceed.
Updated
How long is the queue?
The queue has grown since our last update at around 6pm and now stands at 4.9 miles long.
The estimated waiting time is at least nine hours, according to the government tracker.
If you’re heading there now, the tracker says the nearest landmark to the end of the queue is Southwark Park.
The code given to locate the end on the What3Words app is Gained.Yarn.Relay
Updated
Marc Carney, 58, filed past the Queen’s coffin at 6.40pm after travelling from his home in Kent on Thursday morning.
The moment he got to say his personal goodbye left him “struck by the realism” of everything that is happening. He said: “It hits you how moving it all is and how much love and support there is for the Queen.”
Carney, who joined the queue at about 11.30am, went on: “It was difficult to find the end of it because the line kept on growing as I was walking towards it.”
Pesach Neussbaum, a retired computer company owner, from Montreal, Canada, described seeing the Queen’s coffin as a “very special and extraordinary” experience. Having only arrived in Britain on Wednesday, he had just finished a walking tour in central London when he managed to join the queue in Blackfriars, south London, on Thursday afternoon.
He said: “I was thinking that even if I did not get there, to Westminster, and it turned out to be too far for me to walk, that I was still paying my last respects to the Queen.
“I just continued for five and a- half hours, and to see it through makes me feel fulfilled.
“My wife, Shari – who is back in Canada – is the biggest fan of Queen Elizabeth. I figured that if my wife were here, she would want me to continue.
“The Queen is an inspiration not just to myself, but the entire world.”
Updated
The Chinese vice-president, Wang Qishan, is to attend the Queen’s funeral in a move that has prompted complaints from a group of British Conservative MPs who have been banned from travelling to China due to their campaigns against Chinese repression.
Wang will be the most senior Asian political leader to attend the service at Westminster Abbey and among the representatives of authoritarian states, a grouping that also includes Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is expected to lead a delegation to London, although his attendance at the funeral has not yet been confirmed.
The Foreign Office is refusing to release a full guest list at this stage for security reasons, and most leaders from the Middle East apart from the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, have not disclosed their plans to attend. But the confirmation that Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad al Thani will be present suggests other Gulf leaders will also attend.
Updated
The Queen’s grandchildren are expected to honour her memory by holding a vigil at her coffin with the Duke of Sussex wearing his military uniform, according to reports.
Prince Harry, who served on the front line during two tours of duty in Afghanistan, had been denied the chance to wear his military uniform as he publicly mourned as he is no longer a working royal.
Despite being a former army officer, he has been in civilian dress for official events, including when he walked behind his grandmother’s coffin on Wednesday as it was carried to Westminster Hall to lie in state.
But the Daily Mirror said Palace officials had had a change of heart, with a source saying: “Common sense has prevailed.”
Harry will reportedly join his brother the Prince of Wales and cousins Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall in mounting a vigil around the Queen’s coffin on Saturday.
An exception has been made for the Duke of York, who is no longer a working royal but will wear his military uniform as a “special mark of respect” for the Queen when he stands guard over her coffin during a vigil with his siblings on Friday evening.
Updated
Summary
If you’re just joining us, here’s a quick round-up of all the latest from throughout the day.
Prince William has said walking behind his grandmother’s hearse on Wednesday was “challenging” and “brought back memories”.
As of 9pm, the government tracker said the queue for Westminster Hall was 4.9 miles long, with an estimated waiting time of at least 8.5 hours.
People continue to join, with one woman describing the Queen’s lying-in-state as a “piece of history that will never be repeated”.
The Queen’s state funeral will “unite people across the globe” and “pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign”, its organiser, the Duke of Norfolk, has said.
The House of Commons will sit again from next Thursday and the coming recess will be cut nearly a week short, it has been announced.
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, and the Scotland secretary, Alister Jack, joined other members of the Royal Company of Archers to stand vigil at the Queen’s coffin.
Heathrow airport has announced that it will stop all flights for 15 minutes before the two-minute national silence on Monday and 15 minutes afterwards as a “mark of respect” to the royal family.
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has paid tribute to the Queen, reflecting on meeting her for the first time when he was just a child and saying Canadians “feel like they have lost a family member”.
Vehicles from the motorcade of the US president, Joe Biden, have been spotted in London as the city prepares to receive hundreds of foreign dignitaries ahead of the Queen’s funeral.
A group of MPs and peers under sanctions from China have expressed serious concerns about the Chinese government being invited to the funeral.
Updated
The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has paid tribute to the Queen, reflecting on a relationship that began when he was just a child.
Speaking during a special session of Canada’s House of Commons, Trudeau, whose father served as prime minister almost continuously from 1968 to 1984, said: “The first time I met her was in 1977 when I was just a little boy.
“When I would meet with her as prime minister almost four decades later in 2015, I joked that the last time that we had met she had been taller than me. She responded with a quip about my making her feel old.
“Her sense of humour was one of her many great qualities and one of the many reasons why she was one of my favourite people in the world.
“Her conversations with me were always candid. We talked about anything and everything. She gave her best advice on a range of issues, she was always curious, engaged and thoughtful.”
He said that, for most Canadians, the Queen was “the only sovereign that most of us have ever known” and that “her sudden absence has struck us all palpably and profoundly”.
“The Queen had a profound appreciation for our culture,” he said.
“In 1964, she said that she was happy to know that there existed in our Commonwealth a place where it was expected of her that she would speak officially in French.
“It’s a language that she loved a lot and that she spoke impeccably well.”
He added that Canadians “feel like they have lost a family member who grew up alongside us”.
Updated
Here’s a graphic showing the route the Queen’s coffin will take for the short journey from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey on Monday.
At 10.35am, a bearer party will place the coffin on the state gun carriage, previously used for the funerals of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Sir Winston Churchill, and Lord Mountbatten.
The procession will set off at 10.44am, led by the massed Pipes & Drums of Scottish and Irish Regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Royal Air Force, a total of 200 musicians.
It will arrive at the West Gate of Westminster Abbey at 10.52am, where the bearer party will lift the coffin from the state gun carriage and carry it into the abbey for the state funeral service.
The Queen’s state funeral will “unite people across the globe” and “pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign”, its organiser has said.
The Duke of Norfolk, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, holds the office of Earl Marshal, making him responsible for ceremonial state occasions, such as coronations and funerals.
“The Queen held a unique and timeless position in all our lives,” he said. “This has been felt more keenly over the past few days as the world comes to terms with her demise.
“Her Majesty’s passing has left many people across many continents with a profound sense of loss.
“The respect, admiration and affection in which the Queen was held make our task both humbling and daunting. An honour and a great responsibility.
“It is our aim and belief that the state funeral and events of the next few days will unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths, whilst fulfilling Her Majesty and her family’s wishes to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign.”
Updated
Windsor will be the final resting place of the Queen, in the George VI Memorial Chapel inside the grounds of Windsor Castle, said to be her favourite home, and where she will be buried alongside the Duke of Edinburgh.
If the state funeral is the nation’s goodbye, the committal service at St George’s Chapel will have a more personal air, with the congregation including many of those loyal staff, past and present, who worked for her at her homes and estates.
Thousands are expected to line the streets to watch the cortege as the Queen’s coffin, in the state hearse, processes through the town.
A private burial service, attended only by the King and family members, will later be conducted before Queen Elizabeth II is laid to rest with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the chapel.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Here’s a map of the full route that will be taken by the Queen’s funeral procession on Monday.
The coffin will be taken from Westminster Hall to nearby Westminster Abbey for a state funeral service, and then along Whitehall, the Mall, and Constitution Hill to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner.
At the arch, it will be transferred from a gun carriage to a hearse and then taken to Windsor for a committal service and private burial.
Updated
Walking behind his grandmother’s hearse was “challenging” and had “brought back memories”, Prince William has said while meeting wellwishers on Thursday.
The Prince and Princess of Wales were viewing floral tributes left by members of the public at the gates of Sandringham House in Norfolk.
“Doing the walk yesterday was challenging,” he told one woman. “It brought back a few memories.”
He added he had “not [been] that prepared” for the death of the Queen despite being conscious that she was 96.
Updated
How long is the queue?
According to the government tracker, the queue to see the Queen lying in state is currently 4.6 miles long, with an estimated waiting time of at least eight hours.
The queue crosses Lambeth Bridge and turns north along the South Bank towards Tower Bridge.
If you’re heading there now, the tracker says the nearest landmark to the end of the queue is Bermondsey Beach.
The code given to locate the end on the What3Words app is “rainy.tries.faded”.
Updated
Some extraordinary colour footage here showing the queues to see King George VI lying in state and the crowds for his funeral procession in February 1952.
The footage was shared on Twitter by Stuart Humphryes, who enhances and repairs old colour images and videos.
Hundreds of people can be seen filing past Lambeth Pier, which sits on the opposite side of the Thames to Westminster Hall and on the route followed again by the queue today.
I have edited together for you some rare colour film footage of the queues and London crowds for the Lying In State and funeral procession of King George VI in February 1952. Events, just as today, separated by 70 years.
— BabelColour (@StuartHumphryes) September 15, 2022
(This is not colourised) pic.twitter.com/3MdK58yvRc
Updated
Some more now from people we’ve been speaking to in the queue to see the Queen’s coffin.
Sara Gonzalez-Centeno, a 30-year-old documentary film-maker from France who is living in London, was filming and interviewing people in the queue for a project.
“The Queen is very different than [in] France,” she said. “We chopped their heads off.”
Several of the people we spoke to said they had booked the day off work to attend.
Rosamund Edwards, a 54-year-old solicitor from London, said she had been waiting for a lull in her work to book the day off, “even if it means working extra” to catch up.
Edwards grew up in the Caribbean and said the “monarchy was part of my consciousness for all my childhood”.
“I wanted to pay my respects. It’s a piece of history that will never be repeated. We’ll never have another monarch again for as long as 70 years,” she said.
Updated
The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, and the Scotland secretary, Alister Jack, have stood vigil at the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall.
Both men are members of the Royal Company of Archers, which serves as the monarch’s bodyguard in Scotland.
While the Queen is lying in state, a continuous vigil is being maintained by the Royal Company of Archers along with the Gentlemen at Arms and the Yeomen of the Guard.
Members of the units are standing guard on 20-minute rotations.
In the image below, Wallace can be seen front and right, while Jack is visible front and left.
Updated
Parliament to sit from next Thursday
The House of Commons will sit again from next Thursday and the coming recess will be cut nearly a week short, Aubrey Allegretti reports.
A recess for the party conference season had been due to begin on Thursday and run until 17 October. It will now end on 11 October.
Parliament had only been back from the previous recess for three days when it was suspended following the Queen’s death.
MPs will also be able to take their oath of allegiance to King Charles III on Wednesday. They don’t have to as the current oath pledges allegiance not just to the current monarch but to their “heirs and successors”.
The order paper released for next Thursday confirms that Commons leader Penny Mordaunt will make a statement updating business for the rest of that week, and that on Friday “the House may be sitting”.
It is widely expected though that Mordaunt will confirm chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will unveil the mini-budget on the Friday.
New: Parliament will sit again from next Thursday and recess will be cut nearly a week short - returning on 11 October, not 17 October as currently agreed.
— Aubrey Allegretti (@breeallegretti) September 15, 2022
Updated
During the state funeral, which will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the prime minster, Liz Truss, and secretary general of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, will read lessons while the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will deliver the sermon.
At the end of the service Last Post will sound, followed by a two-minute silence. Reveille, the National Anthem and a lament played by the Queen’s Piper will bring the service to an end at approximately 12 noon.
The coffin, draped in the Royal Standard, and topped with the instruments of state – the imperial state crown, the orb and sceptre – is currently lying in state at Westminster Hall, with a continuous vigil by the Household Division and sovereign Body Guards.
The Queen’s four children will mount their own vigil at 7.30pm on Friday, with the King, Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex standing in silence on the four corners of the catafalque. All will be in uniform, with Andrew, as a non-working royal, permitted to wear uniform for this solemn occasion only.
Following the state funeral, the coffin will be taken in procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, where it will be transferred on to the state hearse and travel to Windsor by road.
Updated
The procession of the Queen’s coffin from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey will begin at 10.35am on Monday when a bearer party will place it on the state gun carriage of the Royal Navy, previously used for the funerals of King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, Sir Winston Churchill, and Lord Mountbatten. As is traditional, it will be drawn by 142 royal naval ratings.
The procession will set off at 10.44am, led by the massed Pipes & Drums of Scottish and Irish Regiments, the Brigade of Gurkhas, and the Royal Air Force, a total of 200 musicians. Immediately behind will walk the kings, heralds and pursuivants of arms along with officers and senior members of the Queen’s Household.
Immediately following the coffin will be the King, and members of the royal family.
The procession will arrive at the West Gate of Westminster Abbey at 10.52am, where the bearer party will lift the coffin from the state gun carriage and carry it into the abbey for the state funeral service.
The congregation will begin taking their seats from 8am. Heads of state and overseas government representatives, including foreign royal families, governors-general and realm prime ministers will gather initially at the Royal hospital, Chelsea and travel under collective arrangements to Westminster Abbey.
Following the state funeral the coffin will be followed by her children, led by the King, and including the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex in the procession to Wellington Arch.
The route, through Parliament Square, the Mall, and Constitution Hill, will be lined by members of the armed forces. Minute guns will be fired in Hyde Park by the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, and Big Ben will toll throughout the duration of the procession which will last one hour.
Commonwealth countries will be represented in the procession, including Canadian Mounties, the George Cross foundation from Malta, the Royal Ulster Constabulary, and the National Health Services of the United Kingdom.
At Wellington Arch, the coffin will be transferred to the state hearse to begin its journey to Windsor.
As the hearse departs, the parade will give a royal salute and the national anthem will be played. The King and the Queen Consort, the Prince and Princess of Wales and members of the royal family will depart for Windsor by car.
Updated
Vehicles from the motorcade of the US president, Joe Biden, have been spotted passing through Walthamstow in north London this afternoon, although presumably without Biden inside).
About taking that bus..
— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) September 15, 2022
The Beast & other vehicles for the Biden motorcade passing through north London just now pic.twitter.com/gB6DyYfzrW
Both the UK and US governments have played down suggestions that Biden could be banned from using a helicopter and obliged to travel by bus when he arrives in London for the Queen’s funeral.
Like his predecessors, Biden usually gets about on foreign trips by helicopter and in the heavily armoured presidential car known as the Beast.
Asked about the reports on Monday, the spokesperson for Liz Truss stressed the “arrangements for different leaders will vary”, and said the documents in question were simply for guidance.
Updated
By early afternoon, the queue had shortened, with the main wait starting from just outside the Oxo Tower, between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges.
People in the queue between 1 and 2pm who spoke to the Guardian said they had started queueing at Tower Bridge in a holding area around 11am, before walking briskly along the Thames and eventually stalling just before the South Bank.
Although they did not have a confirmed wait time, most hoped they would be able to reach Westminster Hall within a few hours, and were adamant that nothing would deter them from reaching the end of the queue.
All of those who spoke to the Guardian were in good spirits, and said they appreciated how well organised the queue was, and the camaraderie of the crowd.
Rafi Raja, 35, from Bradford, said he had decided to come after his friend, Malkit Bharj, 57, from east London, intercepted him on his way home from a trip to Tunisia, suggesting they both queue together because they “love the Queen”.
Raja said the Queen meant a lot to him, because of the memories he had associated with her, including the fact that the first item his mother had received as an engagement gift when she arrived in England after moving from Pakistan was a tea tray with a picture of the queen’s face on it. He also met her once, aged 9, at a visit to Mumtaz restaurant in Bradford.
“She was a very nice looking lady, very charismatic and polite. Someone told me to curtsy but I didn’t know how to do it. She tapped my cheek, which was nice of her. I don’t think the generation that comes next will be as great a person as her,” he said.
Bharj said he had been watching the coverage on TV and, “felt I must go, I felt a pull”, and had invited Raja to stay on his couch so he could accompany him.
The pair of friends said they haven’t seen each other since before the pandemic, and that they were enjoying catching up in the queue and meeting others. “It’s lovely, lots of nice people,” said Raja.
Updated
Edward and Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, charmed crowds in Manchester as they came to view floral tributes neatly arranged in St Ann’s Square.
The couple took their time to talk to people who had gathered in the city centre, many only just finding out that the visit was being made.
“I had felt we were a little bit overlooked, Manchester that is,” said 80-year-old Joyce Marshall, a retired secretary from Saddleworth. “The fact that they are here is a complete surprise but wonderful.”
She was one of many to be bowled over by Sophie. “I said thanks for coming to see us and she held my hand and looked into my eyes… that means a lot. I feel very proud to be British.”
Margaret Jones, from Astley, also talked to the couple. “They were absolutely wonderful, they spent a moment with everyone. They were so appreciative. Prince Edward said: “We’ve all lost somebody,” which is a wonderful thing to say when you think of all that he is going through.
“For him to be here is marvellous. It’s his mum, for goodness sake and he’s spending time with us? That means so much.”
The couple had three engagements in the city beginning with viewing the civic book of condolence at Manchester central library.
At noon, with the bell of St Ann’s church slowly tolling, they arrived in St Ann’s Square to view flowers, thank volunteers and speak to the crowds.
They then moved on to Manchester Cathedral, where they lit a candle in the memory of the Queen.
Updated
Heathrow to stop all flights for national silence on Monday
Heathrow airport has announced that it will stop all flights for 15 minutes before the two-minute national silence on Monday and 15 minutes afterwards as a “mark of respect” to the royal family.
Flights will also be grounded during the arrival of the funeral cortege and procession at Windsor Castle, and diverted around the castle to minimise noise during the private family service on Monday night.
A Heathrow spokesperson said:
As a mark of respect, operations to and from the airport will be subject to appropriate changes in order to avoid noise disruption at certain locations at specific times on Monday.
The move will result in 15% of Heathrow’s schedule for Monday being disrupted.
Passengers affected by these changes will be contacted directly by their airlines about the options available to them, a spokesperson for the airport said.
They added that passengers who have been notified that their flight has been cancelled, or do not have a confirmed seat on a flight, should not go to the airport.
Updated
Among those queuing by 10am near Borough Market to pay tribute were firefighters Emma Easthope, Richard Weaver and Andrew Stevenson, from the West Midlands fire service.
Stevenson, 45, likened the loss of the Queen to that of a family member. “It was very upsetting,” he said, prepared for the hours-long wait ahead, and his return to work this evening.
It was a feeling shared by many waiting in a miles-long queue on Thursday morning. When she passes the coffin later today, Easthope, 32, intends to have a moment of silence in respect, and to gather her thoughts.
Weaver, 38, said: “It’s part of my duty, to say thank you for the Queen, for all she’s done.”
Updated
Liz Truss will meet King Charles at Buckingham Palace on Sunday morning and is scheduled to read a lesson at the Queen’s funeral on Monday, Downing Street has said.
On Sunday evening, the prime minister will also attend a reception for world leaders who will be attending the funeral, her official spokesman said.
While Truss is not formally holding bilateral talks with other leaders during the official mourning period, she will see some of them at No 10 and at Chevening, a government country house in Kent, where both the Queen and wider events are set to be discussed.
Chevening, which Truss had as a retreat when she was foreign secretary, is being used while Chequers, the prime ministerial country residence, is undergoing maintenance.
The names of those she will meet will be released on Friday, but Joe Biden, the US president, is expected to be among them.
Truss’s spokesman also praised the way people had been queuing to file past the Queen’s coffin:
The people of the United Kingdom are demonstrating not only their commitment and respect for the Queen, but their respect for each other in queuing in such a responsible way.
You’ll know from the briefings you had that we planned for all eventualities. It’s not a surprise that such a large number of people want to honour Her Majesty in this way. We have large numbers of people on hand, and it’s great to see everyone pitching in together.
Updated
The Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash writes for us today about how a post-Elizabethan and post-Brexit Britain faces a diminished and difficult future, with national unity and global respect in doubt.
Elizabeth II stood for the “almost paradoxical” unity of four nations in a single nation, the United Kingdom, he writes. But now Scotland may leave the British union in order to rejoin the European one, while Northern Ireland increasingly looks to the Republic of Ireland for its future.
The Queen “represented continuity, security, certainty”, he continues. But Britain today faces a cost of living crisis, a soaring national debt and a probable recession.
Few outside Britain think it has a clear and strong strategic position today. This is the tragedy of my country: to have found a post-imperial role and then to have lost it again. Since the vote for Brexit in 2016, the UK has descended from a hapless but still relatively pragmatic Conservative prime minister (Theresa May) to a parody of Winston Churchill (Boris Johnson) and thence to a parody of Margaret Thatcher (Liz Truss). The proportion of grandiose bluster has increased as that of fact-based realism has declined.
Updated
MPs and peers under sanctions from Beijing protest about Chinese government's invitation to funeral
A group of MPs and peers under sanctions from China have expressed serious concerns about the Chinese government being invited to the Queen’s funeral, PA Media reports. Senior Tory MPs Tim Loughton and Sir Iain Duncan Smith wrote this week to the Commons Speaker calling it “extraordinary” that Chinese representatives should have received an invitation. The letter, also signed by the crossbench peer David Alton and Labour peer Helena Kennedy, says:
We are greatly concerned to hear that the government of China has been invited to attend the state funeral next week, despite other countries Russia, Belarus and Myanmar being excluded.
Given that the United Kingdom parliament has voted to recognise the genocide committed by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people it is extraordinary that the architects of that genocide should be treated in any more favourable way than those countries who have been barred.
The Chinese government is considering sending a delegation to the funeral on Monday in Westminster Abbey, but President Xi Jinping is not expected to attend.
In the letter, the parliamentarians express concern that Chinese officials could be admitted to the Palace of Westminster on the day of the funeral. They say:
It is also particularly inappropriate given that seven parliamentarians including ourselves remain sanctioned by the Chinese government and you, along with the Lord Speaker, have quite rightly barred the Chinese ambassador from attending the Palace of Westminster whilst these unjustified sanctions remain in place.
It may well be as part of the arrangements for foreign dignitaries attending the state funeral that facilities at the Palace of Westminster will be made available to them before or after attending the service at Westminster Abbey.
I am sure you will agree that it would be wholly inappropriate that any representative of the Chinese government should be able to come to the Palace of Westminster and that you can give us your assurance that this will not happen.
You can follow the latest political developments today with Andrew Sparrow: Liz Truss faces backlash over plan to lift cap on bankers’ bonuses – UK politics live
Updated
Queue of people to see Queen lying in state reaches 4.4 miles
The dashboard tracking the length of the queue of people waiting to file past the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall says that it has now reached 4.4 miles (7km).
The nearest landmark to the end of the queue is now given as Bermondsey Beach. The nearest station to that is Bermondsey station on the Jubilee line. It is also a 10-minute walk from Rotherhithe station, which is served by London Overground trains running between Highbury & Islington in the north and West Croydon in the south.
Updated
The zeal of some people, businesses and organisations to mourn in public has attracted both ire and laughter over the last few days. Here are some examples of those who have managed to turn the death of the monarch into a self-inflicted PR disaster for themselves.
Updated
Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk, who is the current earl marshall, is in overall charge of the ceremonial arrangements including the Queen’s funeral. PA Media is carrying some quotes from him:
The events of recent days are a reminder of the strength of our constitution, a system of government, which in so many ways is the envy of the world.
The Queen held a unique and timeless position in all our lives. This has been felt more keenly over the past few days as the world comes to terms with her demise.
Her Majesty’s passing has left many people across many continents with a profound sense of loss.
The respect, admiration and affection in which the Queen was held, make our task both humbling and daunting. An honour and a great responsibility.
It is our aim and belief that the state funeral and events of the next few days will unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths, whilst fulfilling Her Majesty and her family’s wishes to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign.
Updated
The King and his siblings, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex, will hold a 15-minute vigil around the Queen’s coffin as it lies in state at 7.30pm on Friday.
The Queen’s lying-in-state will conclude at 6.30am on Monday. Shortly after 10.35am, the bearers will lift the coffin and carry it in procession to the state gun carriage of the Royal Navy.
At 10.44am, the gun carriage will begin its journey to Westminster Abbey with the route lined by members of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
King Charles III and members of the royal family will walk behind the Queen’s coffin to Wellington Arch when it leaves Westminster Abbey. The procession is due to arrive at the abbey at 10.52am, where the coffin will be carried inside for the service.
The doors to Westminster Abbey will open at 8am on Monday to allow the general congregation to take their seats. The service will begin at 11am.
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Details about Queen’s funeral released
Details about Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral have just been announced.
The Queen will be buried with her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, in a private service at 7.30pm on Monday.
Her committal service will take place at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, at 4pm on Monday, following her state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London, which begins at 11am.
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Amidst ongoing concerns about services across the UK that will be cancelled or closed next Monday, including operations and funerals, the Scottish government has issued its own guidance.
Whilst it says that school should close as a mark of respect, essential healthcare services should continue, including pre-planned treatments, and the winter vaccination programme.
Most public transport services are currently expected to run as normal.
Prince and Princess of Wales arrive at Sandringham to view floral tributes
The Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Catherine, are now at Sandringham in Norfolk to view floral tributes left at the estate by members of the public.
The couple have arrived at the main gates to Sandringham House and are meeting well-wishers.
Norfolk police have advised that an “increasing number” of people were expected and that officers were managing a one-way system around the estate.
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Princess Anne arrives in Glasgow to view tributes
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, has arrived in Glasgow where she will view floral tributes left in memory of her mother the Queen.
Accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence, she will view tributes left outside Glasgow City Chambers before meeting representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron.
Princess Anne bends to read tributes to her mother the Queen in #glasgow pic.twitter.com/3dg5F7P29Z
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) September 15, 2022
Princess Anne meets well wishers in Glasgow’s George Square pic.twitter.com/7NJmGbZchd
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) September 15, 2022
Members of the public may have to wait in line for up to 30 hours to see the Queen’s lying in state, but MPs and their families and friends are able to skip the queue.
Each MP can bring up to four guests to jump the queue and view the Queen’s coffin, while Parliamentary House staff can avoid the queue and have one guest ticket each.
Only those directly employed by parliamentary authorities are able to skip the queue. Cleaners, security staff and caterers who have been working at the Palace of Westminster are not afforded this privilege, the Times has reported.
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The Princess Royal, Anne, will visit Glasgow today to view flowers left in tribute to her mother the Queen and meet mourners signing the book of condolence.
Crowds waiting outside Glasgow city chambers for Princess Anne, who is visiting later this morning pic.twitter.com/kefF8ItK94
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) September 15, 2022
Princess Anne, accompanied by her husband, Sir Tim Laurence, will be met on Thursday afternoon by the lord provost, Jacqueline McLaren, in her capacity as lord lieutenant.
The royal will be invited by the lord lieutenant to view flowers left in tribute at the front of the City Chambers. She will then meet representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron.
Outside #Glasgow city chambers, these three women are waiting to greet Princes Anne, who will arrive in about an hour. Mary Campbell from Cumbernauld says: “It’s an honour that she’s coming to Glasgow. She must be really tired after all the walking they did yesterday” pic.twitter.com/Mkv7fhY9Di
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) September 15, 2022
Ashram Kasibante, a third year Glasgow Uni student, is here representing the @CHSScotland charity shop he volunteers at. “I grew up in Uganda, a Commonwealth country, so I’ve admires the Queen from way back” pic.twitter.com/B2mKHYfkEJ
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) September 15, 2022
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Far away from pomp and ritual, John Harris and John Domokos spend time in three places where the themes of the Elizabethan age played out: Milton Keynes, inner-city Birmingham, and a former Yorkshire pit village.
What emerges is a much more complicated, contradictory story than the one being told elsewhere.
The Guardian’s political correspondent Peter Walker writes for us having spent the morning in Westminster Hall:
Parliamentary officials have set up a rota system for reporters to spend time in Westminster Hall, allowing them to observe the passage of people past the Queen’s coffin for the lying in state. I have just returned from this.
About a dozen journalists, permitted to only bring in notepads and pens, are led onto a temporary wooden lookout point at the northern edge of the 11th century building, near the door where mourners depart into the main parliamentary courtyard after filing past the coffin, which is on a raised platform in the centre of the hall, draped in the Royal Standard.
The most immediate impression is of silence. As requested, none of the mourners talk as they file through the hall, most pausing for a few seconds in front of the coffin to bow their heads. A thick carpet covers much of the stone floor, muffling all steps.
The only noise comes every 20 minutes, when the 10-strong guard, who stand around the coffin with their heads bowed, is changed.
A staff is struck on the stone steps to the west side of the chamber, and the new guard – when we were there, consisting of four members of of the Yoemen of the Guard, and two each from the Gentlemen at Arms and the Grenadier Guards – file in slowly from the northern side. With each subsequent procedure announced by other strikes of the staff, they firstly stand behind the personnel they are replacing, who then depart. The new guard then bow their heads.
The mourners, who only pause the otherwise constant stream past the coffin when the guard is changed, were of all ages, including a number of school-age children and infants. Some were obviously emotional, some being comforted by those with them.
A fair proportion of those passing the coffin were parliamentary staff, identifiable by their passes and the lack of coats and bags from an overnight wait. All MPs and peers are allowed to see the Queen without queuing, and have each been given four guest passes.
But the abiding sense of the ceremony is its sheer scale. We were there for just 30 minutes, witnessing two guard changes and thousands of people filing past the coffin. But even this was just the smallest snapshot of a process that will continue, 24 hours a day, until Monday morning.
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In the early hours of Thursday people were already hurrying to join the line nearing Tower Bridge, winding all the way from Westminster Hall, for the Queen’s lying in state.
Among those in full stride to join the line were Sheila and Steven Rudd, who came out to pay their respects to the Queen.
They took the train in from Carshalton this morning. “We’re just going to see how it goes,” said Sheila of the estimated 10-hour wait. “Keep our fingers crossed!” Her husband piped.
Among those marvelling at the queue stretching along the Thames was Molly Hill, 27, an employee at PwC. This morning she was watching the live stream online, and was one of several employees in the glass towers staring down below.
“I was also looking at the people,” said Hill, as she waited for the line to come into sight. “You can spot a queuer I think, they have a certain look about them.”
Hill, however, doesn’t count herself amongst them. “It’s a moment in history and it’s exciting to see how many people want to get involved and pay their respects, but I think at the end of the day, you’re just looking at a coffin and I’ve seen the Queen alive.”
Hill, who lives in Norfolk, has a familial tradition of going to Sandringham during Christmas to see the royals walk between the house and the church.
While not a royalist, she said she appreciates the tradition and the royal’s contribution to national identity.
“She’s kind of like everyone’s grandma in a weird way,” said Hill. “Someone you know, someone that’s been around for a while, so when someone like that dies it makes you reflect on your own losses and your own family.”
But when asked if she feels the monarchy is still relevant in 2022 she added: “Yes, but not in the way that it has been before.
“It’s more of a nice to have, than a necessity. I still like it because I like tradition and I think it’s part of what it means to be British.”
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The Queen was “someone whose wisdom was remarkable” and who “you could trust totally, completely and absolutely”, the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has said.
While walking to meet mourners in the queue to see the Queen’s lying-in-state, the archbishop said he was not at all surprised by the scale of the turnout.
Speaking about the late monarch, he told PA news agency:
She was someone you could trust totally, completely and absolutely, whose wisdom was remarkable, whose experience – I was the seventh archbishop of Canterbury who she would have known – who really understood things and who prayed.
On what the Queen’s death means for the future of the nation, the archbishop replied:
It means we will move seamlessly to another person who will demonstrate service for the country, and see their role not as over everyone, but to serve the country and the constitution.
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How long is the queue?
According to the government tracker, the queue to enter Westminster Hall is approximately 3.1 miles long at 10.30am on Thursday, stretching back to HMS Belfast as thousands wait to pay their respects.
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Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, was unaware that the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, had been invited to the Queen’s funeral on Monday, according to reports.
Invitations have been sent out by the UK to heads of state of nearly every country, except Russia, Belarus and Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan’s Taliban.
China’s Xi was included on the invitation list, although he was never expected to attend. The Chinese premier is only this week making his first trip outside China, to a conference in Uzbekistan, where he will meet Vladimir Putin, since the pandemic began.
Politico reports that Cleverly told a colleague that an invitation to the Queen’s funeral had only been extended to the Chinese ambassador – in what would have been a major diplomatic snub.
The foreign office later clarified that Cleverly had been mistaken and that Xi.
EXC: James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, was unaware yesterday that Xi Jinping had been invited to the Queen's funeral
— Eleni Courea (@elenicourea) September 15, 2022
He texted a colleague saying that only the Chinese ambassador had been invited
IDS and others sanctioned by China want the invite to be rescinded pic.twitter.com/sMTkjIY5pB
Senior Conservative MPs have protested against the invitation to China over its treatment of Uyghur Muslims, with one calling the decision “an insult to the memory and dignity of our Queen”.
Tim Loughton – one of seven MPs and peers sanctioned by Beijing for speaking out against human rights abuses in Xinjiang – told the Independent:
It is incredible that the government would contemplate inviting representatives of the government of China to attend such an important international occasion as the state funeral.
Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, called the invitation “astonishing” and “project kowtow all over again”.
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Senior barristers, now known as KCs instead of QCs, will take part in a wreath laying after the death of the Queen.
King’s Counsel, as they are now known following the proclamation of the King, have been invited to dress in robes and court mourning attire.
They will then gather outside the Old Bailey before walking to Gray’s Inn Chapel for the ceremony.
About 1,900 senior UK lawyers and hundreds of others in Commonwealth countries must now use the shorthand KC rather than QC on letterhead and other materials.
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said he spoke with King Charles III last night to express his country’s condolences on the death of Charles’s mother, the Queen.
Macron confirmed that he would attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday, adding that the ties between France and Britain are “unbreakable”.
In a phone conversation with His Majesty King Charles III last night, I expressed France’s condolences on the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I will attend the funeral in London on Monday.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2022
The ties between France and the United Kingdom are unbreakable. We will continue to strengthen them, following the path laid by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2022
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Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty writes for us today about how there is one law for King Charles the billionaire and another for his struggling subjects. It is only proper that the new King pays no inheritance tax – says the state that makes citizens choose between heating or eating, he writes.
Last Thursday, the new prime minister set out a plan to cap energy costs. Rather than scrutinise these measures, MPs spent days delivering tributes to the monarchy. “Thus were you served by your representatives,” Aditya continues.
Away from such performances, the isle is full of noises – a sense of chaos suspended. For an idea of the devastation to come, speak to Paul Morrison. A policy adviser at the Methodist church, he has been analysing the financial diaries recently filled in by visitors to food banks, debt clinics and other church-based projects.
Right now, he finds, a little over half of respondents – 56% – can carry on without falling into debt. It may mean walking an hour to the job centre, rather than taking a bus; it can be thrown off even by the smallest accident, but with luck it can be done.
Scroll forward two weeks, though, and add in higher energy prices, and everything changes. Even with Truss’s new measures, just 2% of his group can survive financially. The other 98% are wiped out. Years of reporting have shown me that the very poor are the best budgeters in the country – better than any pinstriped auditor. They can account for every pound in and every pound out. Come 1 October, they will have no margin to cushion them.
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For those invited to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, the closing date for RSVPs is today.
A quarter of the 2,000 places at Westminster Abbey have been reserved for heads of state and their partners, with Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Naruhito, the emperor of Japan, the best-known guests confirmed as coming from abroad.
Invitations were sent out by the UK to heads of state of nearly every country, but a small number of countries have been left out because of political differences.
Rulers from neither Syria, Venezuela nor Afghanistan’s Taliban had been invited, following the previous blacklisting of Russia, Belarus and Myanmar, the first two because of the war in Ukraine. North Korea and Nicaragua – with which the UK has ice-cold diplomatic relations – are being asked to send representatives at ambassadorial level, a signal of disapproval that has already been sent to Iran.
Officials are expected to draw up the final guest list and finalise the seating plan for the funeral, which will reflect seniority and status. Foreign dignitaries who do come to Britain will also be invited to visit the Queen’s lying in state inside parliament’s Westminster Hall ahead of the funeral.
Funeral invitations have also been sent to all holders of Britain’s highest military honour, the Victoria Cross, and the George Cross, which can also be held by civilians.
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While King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, will be greeted with pomp and ceremony during their visit to Cardiff on Friday, preparations will be under way for a modest but defiant event to be staged 100 miles north in the market town of Machynlleth.
The town’s people will gather to mark Owain Glyndŵr Day, a celebration of the life and legacy of the last Welshman to be known as Prince of Wales, the title bestowed by Charles on William in his first speech as king.
“There will be some folk music, a few drinks, a bit of food,” said Huw Morgan, one of the organisers. “I reckon it will be packed.”
Certainly, the event is bound to be more pointed than usual, with Charles’s announcement that William would become Prince of Wales – Tywysog Cymru – going down badly with many nationalists and republicans.
By Wednesday, almost 25,000 people had signed a petition calling for the title to be abolished and activists have vowed to protest at the ceremonies in the Welsh capital.
Morgan, a professor of astronomy, said: “There are lots of people like me who don’t care to hear about the royal family. They are entitled, they are rich and assume they rule over Wales.” Morgan has nothing against the royals as individuals. “But they are symbols of oppression. The English royal family was imposed on Wales centuries ago.”
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What happens today
Hello, I’m Léonie Chao-Fong and I’ll be bringing you the latest developments in the wake of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Today is D+6. Here’s what to expect:
The Queen’s lying in state continues in Westminister Hall.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to continue queuing to pay their respects to the late monarch and filing past her coffin, which sits raised on a catafalque and is draped in the Royal Standard with the orb and sceptre placed on top.
Members of the public will be able to file past the coffin 24 hours a day during the lying in state until 6.30am on the day of the Queen’s state funeral, Monday 19 September.
The coffin will continue to be guarded around the clock by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.
The King will have a private day of reflection and is not expected to attend any public events, after returning to his home in Highgrove in Gloucestershire yesterday evening.
This is to allow Charles to pause, but it is understood he will be working in preparation for his new role and will already be receiving his red boxes of state papers.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will travel to Sandringham in Norfolk to view floral tributes left at the estate by members of the public.
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence, will travel to Scotland to visit Glasgow City Chambers to meet representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, will travel to Manchester, where they will light a candle in memory of the Queen at the city’s cathedral. They will also view the floral tributes in St Ann’s Square and view the book of condolence at Manchester’s Central Library.
The queue to Westminster Hall has swelled this morning to approximately 2.6 miles long according to the government tracker as thousands flock to mourn the Queen.
Earlier this morning, the queue had dropped to around 2 miles. It is now backing along the Thames to Borough market.
A live-stream of the Queen’s Lying-In-State is available on the BBC’s YouTube channel.
King takes break from public events
Today, the King will have a private day of reflection and isn’t expected to be in attendance at public events.
As part of extensive planning for the aftermath of the Queen’s death known as “London Bridge”, this will provide the King with a break from public duties while preparing for his new role.
Meanwhile, the Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Manchester to light a candle in memory of the Queen. They will also view the civic book of condolence at Manchester’s Central Library, attend St Ann’s Square where floral tributes have been left and meet with community members.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will be in Sandringham viewing floral tributes left at the Norwich Gates.
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In a country famous for perfecting the orderly queue, those lining up for a few seconds alongside the Queen’s coffin proved no exception.
By 5pm, when the first members of the public filed into Westminster Hall, the line snaked back through the capital for about 3 miles (5km), crossing the Thames and stretching all the way to London Bridge.
Outside the Palace of Westminster, the sunshine initially gave the occasion a relaxed atmosphere. People came prepared with chairs, blankets and picnics and some sipped drinks from the Red Lion pub.
But once the coffin arrived, and later, when the first in line stepped inside the hush of Westminster Hall, the mood changed markedly.
Earlier this morning, a major rehearsal took place for the funeral’s 4,500 strong military parade ahead of Monday’s proceedings.
The funeral will be the biggest parade of its kind in living memory.
The queue to attend the Queen’s Lying-In-State at Westminster Hall is still several hours long, stretching back 2 miles according to the government tracker.
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN'S LYING-IN-STATE QUEUE UPDATE, 06:36AM, 15 Sept
— Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (@DCMS) September 15, 2022
Queue end is near Blackfriars Bridge
Forecast is partly cloudy
What3words: reveal.nail.papers
Tracker: https://t.co/WImurZpIJW
Plan ahead: https://t.co/eWKx1gHghl
Journey planner: https://t.co/XnDRCfljTD pic.twitter.com/cCjF5Bwyq8
It currently extends along the River Thames nearly all the way to Blackfriars bridge.
The Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport has been sharing updates on the length of the queue and the latest travel information on Twitter.
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The first mourners to see the Queen lying in state have told how they were overcome with emotion as they paid their respects.
Some doffed their hats, others said prayers and shed tears, while one woman said she wanted to sing Ave Maria.
Vanessa Nathakumaran was the first person to file past the coffin in the ancient Westminster Hall. The 56-year-old Londoner, who queued from 11.30am on Monday, said she tried not to cry as the extraordinary scene hit her.
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In Hong Kong, mourners continue to line up outside the British consulate for hours to pay their respects to the Queen.
At dawn on the seventh day since Queen Elizabeth II passed, flowers, cards and portraits lined the pavement outside the consulate in Admiralty, Hong Kong.
Hong Kong, once a British Colony, has been handed back to China with protest a crime under Beijing’s national security law and strict Covid rules. As flowers and messages increase in number so too do references to the era of British rule.
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Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese will depart today to represent the nation at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in London on Monday.
A quarter of the 2,000 places at Westminster Abbey have been reserved for heads of state and their partners, with Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Naruhito, the emperor of Japan, the best-known guests confirmed as coming from abroad.
At the request of the late Queen, 10 “everyday” Australian citizens are also invited to attend including Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott, senior Australians of the Year from this year and last and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame’s Chris Waller.
Horse trainers Gai and Robbie Waterhouse – who trained some of the Queen’s horses - have also been separately invited by Buckingham Palace, while Victoria cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith, a former soldier who is engaged in a defamation case over reports that he alleges wrongly portrayed him as a war criminal and murderer, has also accepted an invitation to attend.
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How long is the queue?
According to the government tracker, the queue to enter Westminster Hall is approximately 2 miles long approaching 6.30am on Thursday morning, stretching back to Blackfriars Bridge as thousands wait to pay their respects.
It’s down a little from yesterday evening, when it reached a peak of around 2.9 miles. The infrastructure put in place along the route allows for a peak length of up to 10 miles.
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN'S LYING-IN-STATE QUEUE UPDATE, 10:30PM, 14 Sept
— Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (@DCMS) September 14, 2022
The back of the queue is near Southwark Bridge
Check the tracker during the night for updates
Visit @TfL to plan your travel
Tracker: https://t.co/WImurZpIJW
Journey planner: https://t.co/XnDRCfljTD pic.twitter.com/N6xR1YVBYW
Some people camped overnight ahead of the Queen’s lying-in-state to make sure they got a chance to pay their respects.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners are expected to pass through in coming days.
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Concern for guard who fell during coffin vigil
There’s been concern overnight for the health of a royal guard who fell down while watching over the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall. The guard was standing at the foot of the late monarch’s casket when he suddenly fell forward and to the floor.
Footage taken from a live broadcast which was posted to social media at around 1am captured the fall. The black-clad guard had been standing holding a ceremonial staff. Nearby officials quickly rushing to his aid. Live footage faded to exterior, night-time vision of the building for a while afterwards.
Guards from units which include the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London are required to remain completely still at the four corners of the catafalque. While the soldiers rotate their positions every 20 minutes, the hours of remaining completely still while standing are six hours in length.
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Summary
Today the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II begins its first full day of lying in state at Westminster Hall in London. Here is a summary of events preceding this morning.
Westminster Hall was opened on Wednesday evening to allow the public to pay their respects to the Queen. King Charles III earlier led a procession that took the Queen’s coffin to Westminster Hall from Buckingham Palace.
A vigil held at the hall and attended by other senior royals as well as leaders from political parties.
The Queen will lie in state until 6.30am on Monday, when the coffin will be taken to nearby Westminster Abbey for the funeral.
Mourners have been warned the queue to pay their respects to the Queen could last as long as 30 hours. The queue has been stretching for more than two miles across Lambeth Bridge and up the South Bank towards London Bridge.
At least two people were treated by paramedics after collapsing in the heat while standing in the queue.
People have described their emotions at saying goodbye to the Queen. “I saw the coronation, and the Queen has been with me my whole life. It’s very sad,” one woman told us.
Almost two-thirds of people think Britain will change as a result of the Queen’s death, according to a YouGov poll.
Joe Biden has offered his condolences to the King, telling him that the Queen’s “dignity and constancy” helped strength the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. The King also spoke to France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, the president of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, and the governors general of Australia, Canada and Jamaica, who all expressed their sympathy.
The Foreign Office has continued to prune the guest list for the Queen’s funeral, adding Syria and Venezuela to the list of countries not invited. India’s president will represent his country at the Queen’s funeral on Monday, meaning the prime minister, Narendra Modi, is not expected to be among the hundreds of foreign leaders due to attend.
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