The Queen’s final journey: Palace reveals details of route that monarch’s coffin will take from Wellington Arch to Windsor Castle on Monday along which mourners will be able to line streets to pay their final respects
- The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage
The route that the Queen’s coffin will take from Wellington Arch to Windsor Castle after her state funeral has been revealed, with tens of thousands of people expected to turn out to pay their final respects to Her Majesty.
The procession will leave Westminster Abbey and will then head west along the south edge of Hyde Park, before passing through Queens Gate and heading down Cromwell Road.
It will then head down Talgarth Road via the Hammersmith Flyover, Great West Road (A4) and Great South West Road (A30).
The news confirms suggestions that the Queen’s coffin would not travel on the M4, which would have been the quickest route, giving thousands more Britons the chance to pay their last respects as her coffin passes.
Travelling along A-roads west out of London to Berkshire means it will be easier for mourners to line up along the road, with tens of thousands expected to be unable to file past Her Majesty’s coffin in Westminster Hall due to the unprecedented length of the queue, which was closed earlier after it got too long.
The route that the Queen’s coffin will take from Wellington Arch to Windsor Castle after her state funeral has been revealed, with tens of thousands of people expected to turn out to pay their final respects to Her Majesty
Former Tory Cabinet minister David Jones, who called for an extended post-funeral route, had said last night: ‘I think it’s very important that as many people as possible have the opportunity to pay their last respects while in sight of the coffin. So it’s sensible that it’s not going all the way along the motorway, as people would not be able to do that there.
List of road closures and transport warnings ahead of the Queen’s funeral
WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL
The following roads around Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are all set to be shut until at least the start of next Tuesday:
- Birdcage Walk
- Buckingham Gate
- Constitution Hill
- Horse Guards Avenue
- Horse Guards Road
- Marlborough Road
- Northumberland Avenue
- The Mall
- Victoria Embankment
- Victoria Street
- Westminster Bridge
- Whitehall
ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA
The following roads will be closed from 6am until later in the day when police deem it safe for them to reopen:
- Cromwell Road
- Queen’s Gate
- Most other major roads
- All the bridges
TRANSPORT FOR LONDON
The following stations are expected to be extremely busy and could be closed or made exit-only:
- Charing Cross
- Embankment
- Green Park
- Hyde Park Corner
- Lancaster Gate
- Marble Arch
- St James’s Park
- Victoria
- Waterloo
- Westminster
The Elizabeth line will run a special Sunday service on the Central section between Paddington and Abbey Wood. The East and West sections will run as normal.
Some London bus routes in the Westminster area will be diverted or will stop short of their destination and may be running a reduced service due to road closures.
‘It’s very difficult as there are so many people who want to pay their last respects, so to maximise the amount of people who can is a good thing.’
The Daily Mail’s Robert Hardman said earlier this week that the post-funeral route should be extended so more Britons could say farewell.
After the funeral finishes at around midday next Monday, the Queen’s children will walk behind her the carriage carrying her coffin to Wellington Arch.
Large screens will be set up in Hyde Park to allow people to watch the service. Once in Windsor, the hearse will arrive at the Long Walk at 3.15pm.
Earlier this week, the Mail’s Robert Hardman outlined the case for extending the post-funeral route so more Britons could say farewell. The funeral at Westminster Abbey will finish around midday next Monday.
Large parts of Central London will be closed for the Queen’s funeral, with up to one million people expected to descend on the capital.
Roads around Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are all set to be shut until at least the start of next Tuesday – including Whitehall, Birdcage Walk, The Mall, Constitution Hill, Northumberland Avenue, Horse Guards Avenue, Horse Guards Road, Victoria Street, Buckingham Gate, Marlborough Road and Victoria Embankment.
Westminster Bridge will also remain closed. While pedestrians and cyclists are set to be allowed to move through most of the areas, the closures will impact public transport – and the council said bicycles may be removed.
The council also warned pedestrian access to some areas will be affected as it tries to ‘minimise the impact on residents, businesses and local communities’. It added that it was allowing resident permit holders of affected zones A, D and G to park in resident bays in other zones across Westminster until 8.30am next Wednesday.
There will be a significant impact on roads in Kensington and Chelsea in West London – with the local authority there warning that roads from Kensington High Street south will not be accessible on the day of the funeral.
Queen’s Gate and Cromwell Road – as well as most other major roads across the borough and all the bridges – will be closed on Monday from 6am until later in the day when police decide it is safe for them to reopen.
The local authority said there will be ‘significant traffic’ on Monday and told residents they will have ‘restricted access which will make it very difficult to move around the borough and get out of the borough’.
It comes as a queue to enter the official queue to see the Queen’s coffin formed in and around Southwark Park this afternoon.
In extraordinary scenes, tens of thousands of people descended on the park to enter the start of the main line for the lying in state, but officials had to shut it at 10am for ‘at least six hours’ because it was too long.
Thousands of mourners were put in a holding area within the park to alleviate congestion in the line ahead, which had stretched for about five miles.
The gates to the park were then shut, and people outside had to form a third line in a desperate attempt to see the coffin before 6.30am on Monday when the lying in state will finish.
Inside the park, a crowd formed in the holding pen next to the main queue as people begged to be let in. Security teams were allowing 100 people at a time from the holding area to join the main queue every ten to 15 minutes.
The Metropolitan Police released this graphic showing road closures yesterday but these are set to widen by next Monday
There is expected to be a significant impact on roads in Kensington and Chelsea in West London next Monday – with the local authority there warning that roads from Kensington High Street south will not be accessible on the day of the funeral
Roads around Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament are all set to be shut until at least the start of next Tuesday – including Whitehall, Birdcage Walk, The Mall, Constitution Hill, Northumberland Avenue and Marlborough Road
But outside the park, some people waited in the street with no idea of when they might be able to even join the queue. By around 4.30pm today, the main queue was still not open according to the Government’s live updates.
David Beckham was among the mourners queuing. He made it inside Westminster Hall at about 3.30pm after joining the queue at 2am.
The Government said in an update just before 10am: ‘Southwark Park has reached capacity. Entry will be paused for at least 6 hours. We are sorry for any inconvenience. Please do not attempt to join the queue until it re-opens.’
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