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Key events
Severin Carrell
Mourners in Edinburgh will be allowed to view the Queen’s coffin lying in rest at St Giles’ cathedral from around 5.30pm on Monday, with large crowds expected.
The Scottish government announced that the viewing would last until 3pm on Tuesday, before the coffin is prepared to be taken from St Giles’ to Edinburgh airport and then by RAF flight to Northolt outside London, accompanied by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal.
Mourners were asked to join a queue for St Giles’ forming at George Square Lane on North Meadow Walk near the Meadows park on Edinburgh’s southside, a short walk from the cathedral. There mourners would each be given a wrist band to allow entry to the cathedral, and encounter airport-style security checks on George IV bridge, leading to the Royal Mile.
“Large crowds are expected and there are likely to be delays on public transport. People are being asked to check ahead and come prepared to stand in long queues,” the government said.
The queue may close early to ensure as many visitors as possible can enter the cathedral before the lying-at-rest period ends should it be clear that those joining the queue beyond that time could not be accommodated before the vigil ends.
Mourners will be asked to pass the coffin without pausing, to enable as many people as possible to do so. Once people have paid their respects, they are asked to move away from the exits to allow the queue to keep flowing.
Severin Carrell
Mourners are queueing up at St Giles’ cathedral in Edinburgh, hoping to be the first people to file past the Queen’s coffin later on Monday, as the city prepares for its biggest royal event in two centuries.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to line the Royal Mile, the sloping medieval street which links Edinburgh castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in dense, deep crowds to view King Charles III and other members of the royal family lead a slow procession with the Queen’s coffin from the palace to St Giles’, for a service on Monday afternoon.
That will be followed by a public viewing, which will extend into Tuesday, and a private vigil for the king and his close family on Monday evening.
Later on Monday, the King and the Queen Consort will attend the Scottish parliament – a modern building beside Holyroodhouse at the foot of the Royal Mile, for a motion of condolence and speeches by Scottish party leaders. The Queen opened the devolved parliament in 1999, and its new building in 2004, visiting it ten times during her reign.
The coffin will lie at St Giles for public viewing from 5.30pm on Monday through Tuesday, before being flown later that afternoon to RAF Northolt near London, accompanied by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, before it is driven to Buckingham palace.
Although all Monday’s and Tuesday’s events will be concentrated on three locations in a small part of Scotland’s capital – it is just over a kilometre (0.7 miles) between the palace, the parliament and St Giles’ cathedral, their significance rivals a royal visit to Edinburgh by King George IV exactly 200 years ago.
In August 1822, King George IV paid the first royal visit to the city in 170 years, for a series of events choreographed by the novelist Sir Walter Scott, who used the visit to rehabilitate the kilt and tartan as iconic Scottish identifiers, after they were suppressed following the Jacobite uprising.
It is the first time a British monarch has died in Scotland, and the first time their coffin has laid in rest in Edinburgh. On Monday evening, Edinburgh’s lord provost and the lord lieutenant for Edinburgh, Cllr Robert Aldridge, will hand King Charles III the keys to the city, in a ceremony at Holyroodhouse.
“It’s an incredible moment of history,” Aldridge told the BBC on Monday morning.
Peter Walker
Officials have set out formal plans for the public to pay their respects to the Queen as her coffin lies in state inside the UK parliamentary grounds, amid warnings that those wishing to do so might have to queue overnight.
The Queen’s coffin will be placed in Westminster Hall, the 11th-century building which is the oldest in the parliamentary estate, from 5pm on Wednesday until 6.30am on the day of the funeral, next Monday.
Members of the public will be able to file past the coffin 24 hours a day, with police and transport organisations preparing for an influx of people. The Times is predicting that up to 750,000 people might want to attend.
Another estimate, in the Sun, suggested queues could last up to 12 hours. Some barriers have already been put in place for the queue route, which will run east to west along the south of the Thames before passing over Lambeth Bridge and doubling back towards Parliament Square, although people cannot begin queueing yet.
Read the full story here.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said King Charles’s appearance in parliament would be a moment of “reflection” and “great sadness”.
The King and Queen Consort will visit Westminster Hall where both Houses of Parliament will express their condolences to the new monarch and his wife, and the King will give his reply.
Speaking to Sky News, Davey said:
It’s a part of Westminster which is resplendent with history. I think we’ll all be very proud – proud of our country, proud of our amazing monarchy. But it will also be a moment of reflection, as you said, and a moment of great sadness.”
Tens of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects to the late Queen in Edinburgh as her coffin is taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral, the city’s council leader Cammy Day said.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Day said:
Our advice to people is to get to the city centre as quickly and early as you can, use public transport because the city has diversions or road closures.
Day added that there had been an “outpouring” from people celebrating “the commitment Her Majesty made to public life and to our city”.
He said:
It’s done us proud, the capital city and the people who have made the journey here to be with Her Majesty on her final journey and to welcome the new King to the city as we will do today is something we will all be immensely proud of.
Monday 12 September is D+3
These are the King’s formal events planned for today.
King Charles III and the Queen Consort will attend Westminster Hall where members of the Commons and Lords will meet to express their condolences. It will be King Charles’s first visit to Westminster as monarch.
The royal couple will then fly to Edinburgh, where they will visit the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the King will inspect the guard of honour. A Ceremony of the Keys on the forecourt of the palace will follow.
The Queen’s coffin will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse at 2.35pm in procession to St Giles’ Cathedral, where it will be carried inside at 2.55pm.
The King and the Queen Consort, with members of the royal family, will follow the procession on foot before attending a service of reflection for the life of the Queen in the cathedral at 3pm. The prime minister will also attend the service.
Afterwards the King will return to Holyrood to hold an audience with the first minister of Scotland, followed by an audience with the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament.
At 5.40pm the King and the Queen Consort will attend the Scottish parliament to receive a motion of condolence.
Joined by other members of the royal family, they will mount a vigil at 7.20pm at St Giles’ Cathedral and stay in Edinburgh overnight.
The Queen’s coffin will lie at rest in the cathedral, guarded by vigil from the Royal Company of Archers, to allow people to pay their respects.
Former head of the British army Lord Dannatt said the armed forces have a “special bond” with their monarch.
Asked how the accession of new sovereign affects the military, he told Sky News: “Well, it has impact on all of us in the country, but I think it has a particular impact on members of the armed forces.
“Much has been made of the fact that when we join the army, navy, air force, whatever, we sign, we swear an oath of allegiance.
“Seamlessly, when the Queen breathed her last last Thursday, our allegiance as soldiers of the Queen, we immediately became soldiers of the King. And that’s a very special link that the military have.
“We carry out operations at risk of life and limb not in the name of the government or the prime minister or the secretary of state for defence. We do it in the name of the sovereign, and the people of this country.
“That’s a very special link, a very special bond. Actually, I think it makes the British armed forces themselves pretty special as a result.”
King Charles will use Clarence House as his home for the time being, with major building work at Buckingham Palace yet to be completed.
Buckingham Palace is considered monarchy HQ and Charles III has already held a series of audiences with the PM, cabinet ministers and Realm High Commissioners at the famous London landmark.
The £369m reservicing programme at the historic palace is spanning 10 years, and includes updating the electrical cabling, plumbing and heating.
It is understood the King and the Queen Consort will use nearby Clarence House –the Queen Mother’s former home which Charles moved into in 2003, as their home at this stage while focused on the aftermath of the Queen’s death, with the palace reserved for official duties.
Clarence House, built between 1825 and 1827 to the designs of John Nash, is much loved by the couple, and was extensively refurbished and redecorated to their taste, and features pieces from Charles’s art collection and many family photos around the residence.
Buckingham Palace has served as the official London residence of the UK’s sovereigns since 1837.
It has 775 rooms, including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms.
With Elizabeth II dying just four days ago, how the royal residences are used in the future has yet to be decided out of respect.
Charles is expected to inherit his late mother’s beloved private estates of Balmoral and Sandringham.
Charles’s official Welsh home is Llwynywermod, his Welsh property in Llandovery, Myddfai. It is not yet known whether he will pass this to his son, the new Prince of Wales.
William and the Princess of Wales moved just days ago to the four-bedroom Adelaide Cottage in Windsor’s Home Park, to offer their children more freedom away from central London, amid a start at a new school which coincided with the death of their great-grandmother.
Press Association
The Press Association reports:
The Australian prime minister has faced backlash from the business and health care sector following the announcement of a one-off bank holiday to mark a national day of mourning for the late Queen.
Anthony Albanese announced on Sunday that Australia would observe a national public holiday on 22 September following the monarch’s funeral on 19 September.
The news quickly drew criticism from healthcare professionals who say the short-notice nature of the bank holiday will cause huge disruption to their sector where consultations and operations are arranged weeks and sometimes months in advance.
The Australia Medical Association president, Steve Robson, tweeted: “Operations and lots of patient consultations booked that day, at a time when access is difficult. Thanks for dropping this at short notice.”
He added: “It’s very difficult to staff hospitals and practices at the best of times now. An unanticipated public holiday will make it very difficult to staff hospitals and clinics.”
Head and neck surgeon Eric Levi also expressed frustration with the short notice of the bank holiday, saying he had eight patients booked in for surgery on September 22.
“We have 60 plus patients booked in our cancer clinic in the morning,” he posted to Twitter.
“I have eight patients booked for theatre. Every single patient has waited weeks to months for their medical care. Every clinic and operating lists overbooked till December. What do we do for them?”
Australian retail and business groups joined medical professionals in raising concerns about disruptions caused by the unplanned bank holiday.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said it respected the decision of the federal government to “honour the passing of Queen Elizabeth II with a one-off public holiday”, but the unplanned nature of the holiday would create disruption for many businesses and impact them financially.
In a statement on Monday the ARA chief executive, Paul Zahra, said: “This event will create some complications for businesses with store closures and staff scheduling challenges, with many rosters set up weeks in advance.
“There will also be a small but unexpected loss of trade, and additional staffing costs, which may impact cashflows for small businesses.”
The managing director of Market Economics, Stephen Koukoulas, meanwhile, said that according to his “quick calculations”, the short-notice bank holiday would cost the Australian economy $1.5bn Australia dollars (£882m).
On Sunday, King Charles III was officially proclaimed as Australia’s new head of state with ceremonies taking place at Government House and Parliament House in Canberra.
Memorial events have been held in recent days throughout Australia, which the Queen visited 16 times during her 70 years on the throne, with floral tributes springing up outside government buildings in Sydney and Canberra.
The sails of the Sydney Opera House, which Her Majesty helped open in 1973, were lit up with the Queen’s image on Friday and Saturday as the world continued to mourn.
Britain’s first post-colonial monarch championed diversity as Prince of Wales, but he must go much further, Lester Holloway writes…
Peter Bradshaw
Only very recently did the Queen make her screen breakthrough. Like British Shakespearean stage veterans who suddenly find themselves in a huge movie franchise late in life, the monarch found herself knocking it out of the park with a superstarring role in the 2012 London Olympics, opposite Daniel Craig’s 007.
And Craig looked almost paralysed by his co-star’s prestige, walking stiffly down the Palace corridor alongside her and the corgis, with an odd, pursed-lipped expression, perhaps unsure of how – or if – to signal his own awareness of the comic craziness underlying this unprecedented event.
With her Olympic walk-on, the Queen had astonished, thrilled and even slightly shocked some of her audience, who perhaps feared she might be embarrassed or demeaned if it all somehow went wrong.
They needn’t have worried. She sailed through it.
And at the platinum jubilee in February, when she played herself opposite another Brit cinema franchise icon, Paddington Bear, she was even more relaxed, gleefully producing the marmalade sandwich from her handbag and cheerfully tapping out the rhythm to Queen’s We Will Rock You on her teacup.
Caroline Davies
Details have been published on how the public can attend the Queen’s lying in state, warning people that they can expect long queues and should be prepared to stand for many hours through the night.
Those wishing to pay their respects to the late monarch’s coffin in London’s Westminster Hall will be able to file solemnly past 24 hours a day from 5pm on Wednesday 14 September until 6.30am on the day of the funeral, Monday 19 September.
But the government has stressed that the queue will continuously move – with little chance to rest or sit down – and the long line of those waiting is expected to stretch through central London.
The plans for the lying in state form a major part of the official mourning. Here is what to expect over the coming days:
Charles became King of Australia the moment of his mother’s death. Australia’s federal government formerly proclaimed his accession on Sunday, but Australia’s states are also hosting formal ceremonies.
Victoria, named for Queen Victoria (the new King’s great-great-great grandmother) proclaimed the new sovereign at a ceremony at the state’s Government House in Melbourne this morning, Benita Kolovos reports.
The proclamation was jointly signed by Victoria’s governor, Linda Dessau, premier, Daniel Andrews, the chief justice, the president of parliament’s upper house and the speaker of the lower house.
Andrews confirmed in a statement following the ceremony that both houses of parliament will sit on Tuesday so that MPs can be sworn in under the new sovereign. This will be followed by condolence motions.
The parliament will then adjourn for one week as a mark of respect and return in late September.
Victoria is the only state or territory in which MPs are constitutionally required to swear allegiance to the new monarch following their predecessor’s death.
Tess McClure
New Zealand will hold a national holiday for the passing of Queen Elizabeth, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. The holiday will be a one-off, on Monday 26 September, the same day as the country’s State Memorial Service.
“As New Zealand’s Queen and much loved Sovereign for over 70 years, it is appropriate that we mark her life of dedicated public service with a State Memorial Service and a one-off public holiday,” Ardern said.
“Queen Elizabeth II was an extraordinary person and I know many New Zealanders will appreciate the opportunity to both mark her death and celebrate her life.”
The Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall in London from Wednesday at 5pm until 6:30am Monday 19 September. Here’s what that means and how you can be involved.
What exactly is meant by the term “lying in state”?
Lying in state is usually reserved for sovereigns, current or past queen consorts, and sometimes former prime ministers. During the formal occasion, the closed coffin is placed on view, as thousands of people queue to file past and pay their respects.
When and where will the Queen lie in state?
The late monarch’s lying in state in Westminster Hall opens to the public at 5pm on Wednesday and it will be open 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am on Monday 19 September – the day of the Queen’s funeral. Westminster Hall is the oldest building the parliamentary estate, it dates back to 1099 and has been the site of key events, such as the trial of Charles I, coronation banquets, and addresses by world leaders.
What can people expect to see?
The closed coffin will be draped in a royal flag, usually a personal standard, and will rest on a raised platform called a catafalque, flanked by a military guard around the clock. A crown and other regalia are traditionally placed on top of a sovereign’s coffin. Each corner of the platform is watched 24 hours a day by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, Foot Guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.
For more information about what to bring, what not to bring, how long you might wait and where the tradition originated, see our full explainer here.
All of the UK papers led with the same image of the Queen’s coffin, draped in a flag, being carried into the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh.
“The Queen begins her final journey,” said the Guardian across its main image of the pallbearers. However, the paper led on developments in Ukraine as Russia targets power supplies after being left reeling by Ukraine’s gains.
Many of the papers had a similar headline. “Queen’s final journey begins,” said the i paper. The Daily Express led with “Queen’s saddest journey begins”, the Mirror had “The final journey home”, the Telegraph went with “‘Her last great journey’”, the Times had “Her final journey begins,” with a wraparound picture of the pallbearers about to load the coffin into the hearse, and the Sun did the same, under the headline “Queen’s last great journey. The Daily Mail ran “The saddest journey… now the long goodbye”.
You can see a full papers roundup here.
What happens this week
Here is a day-by-day account of what will happen next, leading up to and including the Queen’s funeral on Monday 19 September.
Monday 12 September
King Charles III and the Queen Consort are to visit Westminster Hall in London where both Houses of Parliament will express condolences to the new monarch. Later on Monday, Charles and Camilla will fly to Edinburgh where they will attend a Ceremony of the Keys and the King will inspect the guard of honour.
Charles will then lead the royal family in procession as the Queen’s coffin is taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to nearby St Giles’ Cathedral for a service of thanksgiving. Members of the public will be able to view the coffin at the cathedral and pay their respects from 5pm for a period of 24 hours.
The King will then hold audiences with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Alison Johnstone, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.
Later in the evening, the King and other members of the royal family will mount a vigil at the cathedral in honour of their mother.
Tuesday 13 September
The King and Queen Consort are to fly to Northern Ireland on Tuesday to visit Hillsborough Castle, where they will view an exhibition about the late Queen’s long association with the province. The King will then meet Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and party leaders, and receive a message of condolence led by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
After a short reception at Hillsborough, the King and Queen Consort will travel to St Anne’s Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection. Before the event Charles will meet leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland and then later the royal couple will return to London.
Meanwhile, the Queen’s coffin is expected to be flown to London and be placed at rest at Buckingham Palace.
A rehearsal for the procession of the coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster is also expected to take place. Details about the route for the lying-in-state queue will be provided late on Tuesday September 13.
Wednesday 14 September
In a tribute to his late mother, the King will lead Wednesday’s procession behind the gun carriage carrying her coffin to Westminster Hall, where the Queen’s lying in state will begin before the state funeral on September 19. The Archbishop of Canterbury will conduct a short service following the coffin’s arrival.
Those wishing to pay their respect will be able to file solemnly past the Queen’s coffin 24 hours a day from 5pm on Wednesday September 14 until 6.30am on the day of the funeral – Monday September 19.
Senior royals are also expected to pay their own moving tribute, standing guard at some stage around the coffin – the tradition known as the Vigil of the Princes.
Thursday 15 September
Lying in state continues and a rehearsal is likely to take place for the state funeral procession.
Friday 16 September
The King and Queen Consort are expected to travel to Wales while lying in state continues.
Saturday 17 September – Sunday 18 September
The lying in state continues and heads of state will begin to arrive for the funeral.
Monday 19 September
There will be a national bank holiday to allow as many people as possible to watch the Queen’s funeral. Lying in state will continue until 6.30am. The coffin will be taken in a grand military procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral.
Senior members of the family are expected to follow behind – just like they did for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The military will line the streets and also join the procession. Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, European royals and key figures from public life will be invited to gather in the abbey, which can hold a congregation of 2,000.
The service will be televised, and a national two minutes’ silence is expected to be held. After the service, the coffin will be taken in procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch and then travel to Windsor. Once there, the hearse will travel in procession to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle via the Long Walk, after which a televised committal service will take place in St George’s Chapel. Later in the evening, there will be a private interment service with senior members of the royal family.
The Queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel, an annex to the main chapel – where her mother and father were buried, along with the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret. Philip’s coffin will move from the Royal Vault to the memorial chapel to join the Queen’s.
King Charles to lead family procession as coffin travels to Edinburgh cathedral today
Good morning and welcome to today’s liveblog, bringing you the latest developments since the death of the Queen.
King Charles III will lead the royal family in a poignant procession behind the coffin of his mother when it travels to an Edinburgh cathedral to allow the public to pay their respects.
The Queen’s coffin will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to nearby St Giles’ Cathedral where her family, and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society, will attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.
Full details about the royal mourners have yet to be released but there is speculation the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and the new Prince and Princess of Wales, who on Saturday put on a united front during an appearance at Windsor Castle, will be part of the group.
Charles will lead some of the royals on foot, expected to be the Duke of York, Earl of Wessex, Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence – while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy will follow in cars.
Members of the public will be able to view the coffin to pay their respects for 24 hours before it is taken to London ahead of a period of lying in state.
Later in the evening, the King and other members of his family, likely his siblings, will mount a vigil at the cathedral in honour of their mother.
Charles and Camilla are in London, but before leaving for the Scottish capital they will visit Westminster Hall where both Houses of Parliament will express their condolences to the new monarch and his wife, and the King will give his reply.
During his day in Edinburgh, the King will inspect the guard of honour at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, before attending the ceremony of the Keys on the forecourt.
At the Palace, the King will hold audiences with the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, followed by an audience with Alison Johnstone, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.
Words of sympathy will be expressed by the Scottish Parliament when Charles and Camilla attend to receive a motion of condolence, with the King replying.
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