Thousands of people have queued to pay their final respects to the Queen while she lies in state in Westminster Hall.
On Friday evening, those processing by will be joined by those closest to the 96-year-old monarch — her children.
King Charles III, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward will keep guard over the coffin of Elizabeth II, echoing a tradition the royal family have kept for almost 90 years.
Members of the armed forces will have kept a vigil around the Queen’s coffin for the entirety of her four days lying in state, from Wednesday to Monday morning.
They are keeping watch over their Queen. Her children will keep watch over their mother.
What will the Queen’s children do on Friday?
King Charles, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex will keep a vigil around the Queen while the public pass by to say goodbye to the former sovereign.
Those in the vast medieval hall at 7.30pm on Friday (September 16) will see Elizabeth’s four children keeping guard.
Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward have already carried out a similar vigil around their mother’s body as she lay at rest at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral on September 12.
The Queen died at her Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, one of her favourite places, on September 8.
Her remains rested at the Scottish capital’s cathedral before being brought to London on Tuesday September 13.
What is the Vigil of the Princes?
When King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward position themselves on each side of the catafalque, the stand upon which their mother’s coffin sits, they will be taking part in what had previously been known as the Vigil of the Princes.
The first record of such an event was after the death of King George V in 1936.
His son, King Edward VIII (who later abdicated), Prince Albert, Duke of York (later to be King George VI), Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George, Duke of Kent, took guard of their father’s coffin on January 27 in Westminster Hall.
Almost 70 years later, their ancestors would do the same for the Queen Mother — King George VI’s wife.
The Queen Mother’s grandchildren kept watch over her coffin while she lay in state on April 8, 2002, also in Westminster Hall.
Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, and his brothers Andrew and Edward were joined by their cousin, David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley, for the 20 minute vigil.
There was no such vigil for George VI – when he died in 1952 he had two daughters, Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, and his grandchildren were very young.
While known as the Vigil of the Princes after the two occasions in 1936 and 2002, Princess Anne joined her brothers in Edinburgh and plans to in London, making it the Vigil of the Princes and the Princess for Queen Elizabeth II.
A senior palace official confirmed that the King and his siblings will mount guard for 15 minutes on Friday evening.
All four of them will be dressed in military uniform, including Prince Andrew, according to The Guardian.
The newspaper said that, even though Andrew is a non-working royal, he has been granted dispensation to wear uniform for the vigil.
The Queen’s grandchildren are likely to follow their parents’ lead by performing a similar vigil around the catafalque in Westminster Hall on Saturday.
The King’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, will be among eight grandchildren who will stand in silence on Saturday evening for a vigil alongside Her Majesty’s coffin.
The princes' cousins — Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Zara and Peter Philips, and Lady Louise and James, Viscount Severn — are also expected to form part of the guard of honour.
How long will the Queen lie in state?
The Queen has been lying in state in Westminster Hall since Wednesday evening and the doors will be closed at 6.30am on Monday (September 19), the day of her state funeral.
The coffin is draped with the Royal Standard. On top of the flag lie the imperial state crown, the orb and the sceptre.
A continuous vigil is being kept by the King's Body Guards of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, The Royal Company of Archers, the Yeomen of the Guard assisted by the Yeomen Warders of the Tower of London and by Officers of the Household Division.
Each watch lasts for six hours, with individuals within those watches keeping vigil for 20 minutes.
The vigils kept by members of the royal family are in addition to, not in place of, those mounted by the Household Division and Body Guards, a senior palace official said.
