Britain shuts down to mourn Her Majesty: Supermarkets, stations and shops close out of respect to the Queen on day of her state funeral
- The public bank holiday has seen a host of businesses lock up for the day, though some will open doors later
- Road closures started to come in from 6am today on A4 and the A30 in West London towards Windsor
- Full closures in both directions are in force from 10am today, which are not likely to be lifted until the evening
- Bus routes will also be severely affected with many routes diverted or stopping short of destinations
- The Queen’s funeral: All the latest Royal Family news and coverage
Supermarkets, restaurants and retail stores are all shut this morning so workers can pay tribute to the Queen on the day of her state funeral.
The public bank holiday has seen a host of businesses lock up for the day – from everyday convenience shops to large tourist attractions.
Meanwhile in London, road closures are in place across the city and some Tube stations are out of use due to the largest policing operation in the Met’s history.
A 12-mile ring of steel has been imposed in the heart of the capital along with the route the late monarch’s coffin will take to Windsor later today, where she will ultimately be laid to rest.
Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi are among those closing their supermarket stores for the day.
‘We want to express our deepest condolences to the royal family, as well as our gratitude to Her Majesty the Queen for her unwavering service,’ said Tesco’s UK chief executive Jason Tarry.
The UK’s biggest grocery business said it will open its Express convenience stores from 5pm, while a small number of convenience stores in central London and Windsor will remain open.
Other retailers including Sainsbury’s also said convenience stores and petrol stations will open from 5pm.
Asda said it will shut its stores for the funeral, but all its supermarkets will open from 5pm, with colleagues working on Monday evening to receive double pay.
Other high street retailers, such as Marks & Spencer and Primark, also said they will shut for the day, while cinema chains such as Cineworld and Odeon have announced plans to keep their venues shut, too.
Bin collections, driving tests and a number of hospital appointments have all also been scrapped, while there are closures at English Heritage and National Trust sites.
Popular holiday spot Center Parcs is closing its on-site facilities today, but guests are allowed to remain in lodges and walk around, despite bosses initially threatening to boot them out.
Despite the widespread closures, huge crowds flocked into central London this morning for the funeral service, with City Hall officials issuing a warning at 7.30am.
It read: ‘The areas in and around Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Whitehall, St James’s Park and Green Park are extremely busy.
‘If you are in the vicinity or arriving to watch Her Majesty The Queen’s State Funeral and procession, please be patient and follow the advice of stewards and police.’
A shop sign telling customers the shop is closed for the day due to the Queen’s funeral, on Jermyn Street in Westminster
A Coral betting shop is seen closed for today’s funeral, and includes a sign reading ‘We at Coral join the nation in mourning the lose of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’
A Greggs store in Birmingham showcases the sign: ‘To give our colleagues the opportunity to pay their respects to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, this shop will be closed today. Thanks for your understanding’
The streets of Birmingham were deserted this morning as the vast majority of shops are closed for the Queen’s funeral
The streets of Manchester were deserted this morning as the vast majority of shops are closed for the Queen’s funeral
The streets of Birmingham were deserted this morning as the vast majority of shops are closed for the Queen’s funeral
The streets of Birmingham were deserted this morning as the vast majority of shops are closed for the Queen’s funeral
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Everything we know that’s closing on Monday
- Aldi
- Lidl
- M&S
- Sainsbury’s (with convenience stores and petrol stations open from 5pm to 10pm)
- Tesco (Express stores will be open from 5pm)
- Poundland
- Morrisons
- Argos
- Asda (until 5pm)
- John Lewis department stores
- Waitrose (with the exception of a limited number of stores on the funeral procession route)
- Wilko
- B&Q
- Toolstation
- Primark
- Holland & Barrett
- Costa Coffee
- Cineworld
- Odeon cinemas
- Showcase cinemas
- The Light cinemas
- English Heritage sites including Stonehenge, Dover Castle, Eltham Palace and the Roman forts on Hadrian’s Wall
- Center Parcs
- Driving tests cancelled
- No Royal Mail deliveries
Nevertheless, Downing Street has indicated that it is up to individual businesses how they approach the bank holiday.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the day of the funeral will operate as ‘a standard bank holiday’.
‘Obviously individual businesses will need to make the decisions about what’s right for them and discuss with their employees but there is obviously no one-size-fits-all approach.’
A number of pub groups have said they will have venues open during the day.
Pub group Stonegate said it will open on Monday and plans to show the Queen’s funeral on screens.
Premier Inn owner Whitbread also said it will keep its hotels and restaurants open as usual.
JD Wetherspoon said central London, railway station and airport pubs will open from 8am on Monday, while the majority of its pubs will only open from about 1pm, after the funeral takes place.
On the roads, the A4 and A30 in West London towards Windsor have begun to shut, with full closures in both directions after 10am, which are not likely to be lifted until the evening.
Multiple closures on local roads along the A4 will also be in place. People looking to drive around central, West and South West London were advised to check before they travel, allow extra time and expect long delays.
A large police presence was in place this morning near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey for the funeral service later.
Large concrete blocks were put in place overnight across many of the roads closest to the hospital grounds, and an outer cordon was set up by police at 6am blocking off all roads up to 600 yards away.
More than 20 police officers formed one cordon halfway down Lower Sloane Street near the Rose & Crown pub at the junction with Turks Row.
Two rows of bollards were stretched across the road, along with a line of portable anti-terror barricades designed to be capable of stopping a bomb-laden truck.
Around 150 yards beyond the barricade, three trucks used for transporting bollards and security fencing were left parked across the road with orange lights flashing in an apparent bid to form another line of defence.
Local residents including early morning dog walkers had to show identification proving where they lived before being allowed through the cordon.
At around 7.30am, two luxury Mercedes cars, believed to be official diplomatic vehicles from Sudan were allowed through the cordon after brief security checks.
Meanwhile, the M25 – usually packed on a Monday morning – was eerily quiet with barely any vehicles, while conversely at Staines-upon-Thames, which has a through rail service to Windsor – where the Queen will ultimately be laid to rest – the car park was full by 7am with marshals on hand to guide people to trains.
Bus routes will also be severely affected today with many routes diverted or stopping short of their destinations. Between one and two million people are expected to visit the capital for the funeral which begins at 11am.
Police have closed roads in London this morning as a 12-mile-wide ring of steel descends on the capital ahead of the Queen’s state funeral
Police in position at a road closure near Chelsea Hospital, where VIPs and world leaders will take buses to Westminster Abbey
Huge police presence at Chelsea Hospital where VIPs and world leaders will take buses heading to Westminster Abbey this morning
Passengers get off the tube at Embankment, which is likely to be busy all morning with a number of station closures in place
Passengers get off the tube at Embankment, which is likely to be busy all morning with a number of station closures in place
Passengers get off the tube at Embankment, which is likely to be busy all morning with a number of station closures in place
Teams prepare to block off roads outside Royal Hospital Chelsea in West London this morning ahead of the Queen’s funeral
A police officer surveys the crowd this morning amid major road closures across Westminster and around the capital
Police monitor crowds in Westminster early this morning as many roads are closed across the capital
Police security teams patrol Whitehall ahead of Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in London this morning
A road is blocked off in Westminster early this morning as a huge security operation is carried out across the capital
LONDON ROAD CLOSURES: The Metropolitan Police has released a map of road closures from 5am today (marked in purple)
Andy Lord, Transport for London’s chief operating officer, said: ‘We know London is going to be very busy (today) and advise everyone to check before you travel.
‘If you can avoid driving in London (today) we strongly recommend you do so, as there are a significant number of road closures in place and journeys will take significantly longer than usual, especially in west London.’
Road closures announced for 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 tomorrow:
- 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
LONDON BOROUGH OF HAMMERSMITH & FULHAM
- A4 (Great West Road/Talgarth Road/West Cromwell Road), affecting both the Flyover and the Hammersmith Broadway areas, as well as many other roads that surround the A4.
LONDON BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW
- Great West Road
- Great Chertsey Road
- Hogarth Roundabout
- Hogarth Lane
- Ellesmere Road
- Cedars Road
- Great West Road
- Bath Road
- Chiswick Roundabout
- Great South-West Road
- Clockhouse Roundabout
- Staines Road between Clockhouse Roundabout and London Road
Some road closures will last into the evening. Around 250 extra rail services will run – including some overnight trains – and National Highways has suspended planned motorway closures across England.
There are fears the transport network will be overwhelmed this afternoon if too many people visiting the capital travel home immediately after the funeral procession leaves Westminster shortly after noon.
TfL boss Andy Byford said: ‘We’re ready for probably one of the busiest days Transport for London has ever faced.
‘It’s hard to say exactly how many additional people (will travel), but we’re preparing for potentially a million people just within the footprint of the royal palaces and Hyde Park.’
Mr Byford said TfL is ‘leaving nothing to chance’, with non-essential meetings postponed and people from across the organisation working to ensure visitors can ‘get around the city’.
Network Rail chairman Sir Peter Hendy warned that trains will be ‘extremely busy’.
He said: ‘This is the biggest public transport operation since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and we’re working closely with all train operators to run extra trains through the day and into the night.
‘To help us provide the best possible experience and avoid lengthy queues at stations we’re asking people not to rush home after the funeral and the processions, but to take their time and experience London on this memorable day.’
Network Rail has postponed engineering work and is keeping its London stations open overnight to provide shelter for mourners struggling to get home.
All-night trains are only serving limited destinations, mostly within the M25. Stationary trains are being used as waiting areas in the early hours of the morning for people waiting to catch a train home.
Priority will be given to elderly and vulnerable mourners. Three Tube stations – Westminster, St James’s Park and Hyde Park Corner – will be closed for most of this morning to avoid being overcrowded.
More than 100 Heathrow Airport flights will be cancelled to prevent aircraft noise disturbing proceedings at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle.
The west London airport announced that 15 per cent of its 1,200 flights due to take off or land today will be disrupted. British Airways – the most-affected airline – cancelled 100 short-haul flights due to the restrictions.
It comes as the Queen is to be reunited with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh as she is laid to rest in a historic state funeral.
Crowds of mourners are expected to flock to London, Windsor and royal sites throughout the UK on the national bank holiday, with the service set to draw millions of TV viewers across the globe.
The royal family, including Prince George and Princess Charlotte, will be among the 2,000 people gathered at Westminster Abbey to remember the late monarch this morning, before a committal service at Windsor Castle.
They will walk in procession behind the Queen’s coffin as it is carried through the Gothic church by the military bearer party.
WESTMINSTER CITY COUNCIL: Major disruption is expected on roads in much of the Westminster area throughout today
KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA: Many major roads in Kensington and Chelsea in West London will also be shut throughout today
HAMMERSMITH AND FULHAM: The A4 (Great West Road/Talgarth Road/West Cromwell Road) will shut to traffic from 10am
HOUNSLOW: The funeral procession for Queen Elizabeth II will travel along the stretch of the A4 from Hogarth Roundabout in Chiswick, West London, to Henly’s Roundabout, where it will then pass along the A30 (Great South-West Road)
The King and the Queen Consort will walk immediately behind the coffin, followed by the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, and the Prince and Princess of Wales.
George and Charlotte will walk with their parents in a side-by-side in formation, followed by their uncle and aunt the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and other members of the royal family.
It will come after the Queen’s lying in state period at Westminster Hall ends at 6.30am. Her coffin will be taken in a grand military procession from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey for the funeral at 11am.
Before the service, conducted by the Very Rev David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, the tenor bell will be tolled every minute for 96 minutes, reflecting the years of the Queen’s life.
Heads of state, prime ministers and presidents, members of European royal families and key figures from public life will gather at the abbey.
The funeral will be broadcast live at around 125 cinemas and several cathedrals in the UK, and on a big screen in Holyrood Park in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh.
At 12.15pm, the coffin will be taken in procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch and then travel to Windsor.
The hearse will then 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 at 4pm.
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.
How historic day will unfold as Britain says farewell to Queen: Her Majesty’s coffin will be taken to Westminster Abbey at 10.44am, arrive at Windsor at 3.06pm before she is laid to rest with her beloved Philip at 7.30pm
- Final preparations are being put in place for Britain’s monumental farewell to Queen Elizabeth II
- The Queen’s lying-in-state finishes at 6.30am today ahead of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey
- At 10.44am, her coffin will be dragged by rope from the Palace of Westminster to the gothic church
- It will be carried by soldiers into the abbey, where the Last Post will be played at 11am
- After the hour-long service, the coffin will be led in a military procession to Wellington Arch
- At 1pm, Her Majesty will be transported by State Hearse to the Long Walk in Windsor
- The late monarch will finally be laid to rest in the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel at 7.30pm
By JACK WRIGHT FOR MAILONLINE
Final preparations are being put in place for Britain’s monumental farewell to Queen Elizabeth II, the country’s greatest monarch.
Around a million people will line the streets of London today to witness historic scenes of breathtaking pomp and splendour, punctuated by historic moments of sorrow and solemnity, as Her Majesty’s coffin is transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey.
King Charles III will be joined by monarchs, Presidents and Prime Ministers from nearly every nation – as well as 2,000 in the congregation including Armed Forces veterans, NHS staff and charity workers – for the first Royal State Funeral in Westminster Abbey in more than 200 years.
The Queen’s coffin will then be transported by a spectacular procession from the abbey to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, before she is carried by State Hearse to Windsor.
There, she will be lowered into the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel, where she will join her beloved husband the Duke of Edinburgh and parents King George VI and the Queen Mother, and where her sister Princess Margaret’s ashes are interred.
Around a million people will line the streets of London today to witness historic scenes of breathtaking pomp and splendour, punctuated by historic moments of sorrow and solemnity, as Her Majesty’s coffin is transported from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. The Queen’s coffin will then be transported by a spectacular procession from the abbey to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner, before she is carried by State Hearse to Windsor. There, she will be lowered into the Royal Vault at St George’s Chapel, where she will join her beloved husband the Duke of Edinburgh and parents King George VI and the Queen Mother, and where her sister Princess Margaret’s ashes are interred
Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign’s orb and sceptre, lying in state on the catafalque in Westminster Hall
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard and adorned with the Imperial State Crown
6.30am: The Queen’s lying-in-state at Westminster Hall finishes before last vigil and the clock of Big Ben strikes
Proceedings will start at 6.30am, when the last members of the public file past the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall – marking the end of four-and-a-half days of lying-in-state during which up to 500,000 will have paid their respects.
At this point, the King’s guards will begin their final vigil at Her Majesty’s casket in the Palace of Westminster. This will then close at 8.30am in preparation for the magnificent procession.
Then at 9am, Big Ben will strike clearly, before the bell’s hammer is covered with a thick leather pad to muffle its strikes for the rest of the day out of respect and deference to the late monarch.
8am: World leaders arrive at Westminster Abbey in shuttle buses… but Joe Biden will ride his armoured limousine ‘Beast’
World leaders including Emmanuel Macron, Anthony Albanese and Jacinda Ardern, and royalty including Japanese Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and the Netherlands’ King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, will arrive at the Abbey in a fleet of buses from 8am.
In the only exception, US President Joe Biden has been allowed to use his armoured limousine, known as ‘The Beast’.
Non-commissioned sailors, naval ratings, traditionally pull the gun carriage bearing a sovereign’s coffin through the streets using ropes. Pictured pulling the carriage during the final journey of King George VI in 1952
10.35-11am: Queen’s coffin is placed onto State Gun Carriage and taken to Westminster Abbey in tradition dating back to Victoria’s funeral in 1901
At 10.35am, a company of Grenadier Guards, the Queen’s most senior guardsmen, will lift her coffin from the catafalque and place it on to the State Gun Carriage – a 123-year-old gun carriage from HMS Excellent on Whale Island in Portsmouth, under the charge of Lieutenant Commander Paul ‘Ronnie’ Barker – outside the north door of Westminster Hall.
The practice was adopted in 1901 after Victoria’s funeral
The 2.8-ton carriage has taken four other Monarchs on their final journeys, including her father King George VI in 1952. It has been hauled by Royal Navy ratings using ropes since Queen Victoria’s funeral in 1901, when the horses due to pull the coffin reared up.
Then at 10.44am, the coffin will be pulled by 98 Royal Navy sailors using ropes instead of horses from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, via Parliament Square, in a tradition dating back to the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901.
The sailors, known as the Sovereign’s Guard, will pull on ropes attached to the carriage’s front wheels, drawing the late monarch forward.
The cortege will pass close to Parliament Square’s statue of Sir Winston Churchill, whose last words were said to be ‘I’m bored with it all’.
Senior members of the family are expected to follow behind the carriage, just as they did for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales and the Duke of Edinburgh.
The coffin will then be carried into Westminster Abbey, down the nave to the High Altar.
Soldiers carrying the coffin into the gothic church must be over 6ft tall and be from a Grenadier Guards unit fondly known as the ‘Monarch’s Mob’.
11am-12pm: Queen’s funeral service at Westminster Abbey
The hour-long service will start at 11am and will be conducted by the Dean Of Westminster, with the sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury and a reading by Prime Minister Liz Truss, followed by a rendition of the Last Post and a national two-minute silence at 11.55am.
The Dean of Westminster was previously a chaplain of Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he lived in rooms once occupied by Chronicles Of Narnia author CS Lewis.
The Queen’s Piper is the only non-Royal allowed to wear Balmoral tartan. His predecessor had the wind lift his kilt as he played for the Queen, prompting Her Majesty to ask whether it was a ‘particularly cold morning’.
Though little else is known about the ceremony, the Dean of Westminster said the Queen’s state funeral will remember the late monarch’s place in history, with the personal sorrow of a grieving family at its heart.
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, who will lead the ceremony, said the scale of the service on Monday was almost unprecedented, even for Westminster Abbey – the scene of so many royal milestones throughout history.
‘It’s on a scale that even Westminster Abbey doesn’t often do,’ he said, adding it would be a ‘wonderful mixture of great ceremony and some very profound but very ordinary words’.
The Dean said: ‘The business about it being a state funeral is really important. It’s meant to be visual. It’s meant to be grand. We’re supposed to be reminding ourselves of this extraordinary woman who so often took us down through the register, gave us herself, her character.’
He added: ‘Part of this is about remembering her significance, her place in history, her place in the nation and Commonwealth. But it’s a funeral. It’s for a grieving family. That’s really important, personal sorrow at the heart of this.’
He summed up the Queen’s funeral as a service of ‘grief, thanksgiving and hope’.
The Queen’s is the first funeral of a reigning king or queen to be held in Westminster Abbey since George II’s in 1760.
Her Majesty maintained a close connection with the abbey, which is a Royal Peculiar and subject only to the sovereign and not any archbishop or bishop. The Queen saw her daughter, the Princess Royal, marry Captain Mark Phillips in the church in 1973, and her second son, the Duke of York, wed Sarah Ferguson in 1986.
In 2011, her grandson, William, now the Prince of Wales, exchanged vows with Kate Middleton, now Princess of Wales, as millions watched across the globe.
The church was also a reminder of the loss of her mother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and former daughter-in-law, Diana, Princess of Wales. The Queen Mother’s funeral was held at the abbey in 2002, five years after Diana’s.
The gothic church – whose official title is the Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster – has been the coronation church since 1066. The Queen’s was the 38th. It is also the final resting place of 17 monarchs, including Charles II and Elizabeth I.
Steeped in more than 1,000 years of history, Benedictine monks first went to the site in the middle of the 10th century. The present church, started by Henry III in 1245, is one of the most important gothic buildings in the country, with the medieval shrine of Anglo-Saxon saint Edward the Confessor still at its heart.
Police officers in The Mall in Central London ahead of the state funeral
12.15pm: Queen’s coffin is carried 1.5 miles in grand military procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner
Reveille, the national anthem and a lament, played by the Queen’s Piper, will bring the state funeral service to an end at 12pm.
After the funeral service, at 12:15pm, the coffin – followed by King Charles and the Queen Consort – will emerge through the Abbey’s Great West Door before its extraordinary 1.5-mile journey procession featuring more than 4,000 military personnel to Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner.
To the muffled tolls of Big Ben and the percussive beat of artillery guns that will fire every 60 seconds, the State Gun Carriage bearing the Queen’s coffin will be hauled along Whitehall and The Mall and past Buckingham Palace by 142 Royal Navy sailors.
It will be a mesmerising moment of ceremonial spectacle not seen since Sir Winston Churchill’s State Funeral almost 60 years ago.
General Sir Patrick Sanders, the Head of the Army, said yesterday: ‘The procession will be like nothing any of us has seen, I think, in our lifetimes.’
Mourners will be able to gather down The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, along Whitehall and up Constitution Hill towards Wellington Arch to watch the procession in-person
Q: Where can I watch the ceremony?
Mourners will be able to gather down The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, along Whitehall and up Constitution Hill towards Wellington Arch to watch the procession in-person.
The funeral will also be televised and is set to be watched by millions in Britain and around the world – with some expecting it to be the most viewed event in world history. In the UK alone, the ceremony will be broadcast live at around 125 cinemas and several cathedrals, and at a number of screens set up around the country, including outside the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
For those watching on television:
- The BBC will be providing full coverage of The State Funeral of Her Majesty The Queen across television, radio, iPlayer and BBC Sounds. A special programme will be on air from 8am to 5pm on BBC One, BBC Two and iPlayer with BSL signed coverage on BBC Two;
- Sky News will provide full live coverage for free on Sky News, the Sky News App and on the Sky News YouTube channel, including a special programme starting at 9am from Westminster Abbey;
- ITV will broadcast the service and procession live as part of a special programme with a documentary film broadcast at 7.30pm and a special programme at 9pm
For those in London wanting to be near the procession, four giant screens have been set up in Hyde Park (access via the northern side of the park between Marble Arch and Marlborough Gate).
There will also be big screens in the following locations:
- Bedford (Corn Exchange);
- Birmingham (Centenary Square);
- Bracknell (Bond Square);
- Bradford (the Cathedral);
- Coventry (University Square);
- Exeter (Northernhay Gardens and Exeter City Football Club);
- Hull (City Hall);
- Ipswich (Cornhill);
- Leeds (Millennium Square);
- Lichfield (the Cathedral);
- Manchester (the Cathedral);
- Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Old Eldon Square);
- Scarborough (Grand Hall of the Spa);
- Sheffield (the Cathedral);
- Solihull (Core Theatre);
- Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire University, The Catalyst Hall);
- Stratford-upon-Avon (Royal Shakespeare Theatre);
- Telford (St Georges Sports and Social Club);
- Reading (Forbury Gardens);
- Truro (the Cathedral);
- Walsall (St Matthew’s Church);
- West Bromwich (Dartmouth Park bandstand);
- Wolverhampton (Queen Square)
For those in London wanting to be near the procession, four giant screens have been set up in Hyde Park. Other screens have been set up at several other locations across the UK, as this graphic illustrates
Q: What travel disruption will there be in London?
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.
Three Tube stations – Westminster, St James’s Park and Hyde Park Corner – will be closed for most of Monday morning to avoid being overcrowded.
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.
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, 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.
The local authority said there will be ‘significant traffic’ 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’.
Q: What other travel disruption will there be?
Network Rail has postponed engineering work and is keeping its London stations open overnight to provide shelter for mourners struggling to get home. All-night trains are only serving limited destinations, mostly within the M25. Stationary trains are being used as waiting areas in the early hours of the morning for people waiting to catch a train home. Priority will be given to elderly and vulnerable mourners.
National Highways is deploying additional traffic officers on motorways and major A roads around London to carry out patrols, keep vehicles moving and assist the emergency services in clearing incidents.
More than 100 Heathrow Airport flights will be cancelled to prevent aircraft noise disturbing proceedings at Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle.
Q: What will the weather be like?
Rain is unlikely to fall during the Queen’s funeral.
The late monarch’s coffin will remain in Westminster Hall for the public to view until 6.30am on Monday, ahead of the service at Westminster Abbey.
Forecasters say temperatures will drop as low as 10C overnight into Sunday, as mourners continue queuing for the lying in state, before a warm and sunny day.
Temperatures had dropped as low as 4C for those waiting in line overnight on Friday and early on Saturday morning.
Rachel Ayers, of the Met Office, said: ‘Sunday is a cloudier picture across the UK than Saturday, though southern areas will see some bright or sunny spells to start. Scattered showers will affect the Midlands northwards at times throughout the day, particularly across northern Scotland and Norfolk where showers are feeding in from the North Sea.
‘Staying cool in the east but temperatures near average elsewhere and locally feeling warm in any sunny spells in the far south. Top temperatures will be around 19C.’
During the one-minute national silence at 8pm on Sunday, the night before the state funeral, most of the country will avoid rain, with temperatures around 16C in the capital and Windsor. Those in the queue for Westminster Hall will see a warmer night going into Monday, with lows of 13C, staying dry.
At 11am at Westminster Abbey, when the funeral takes place, the weather will be cloudy, with temperatures likely to hit 16C. Conditions will stay the same when the Queen’s coffin makes the 1.5-mile journey from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch for the public procession at 12.15pm.
Operation London Bridge: The ‘ring of steel’ that will surround large parts of London including Westminster Abbey for the Queen’s funeral in the biggest security operation in Scotland Yard’s near 200-year history. All the roads and streets highlighted in red in the above graphic will be closed for most of Monday
After being taken by gun carriage from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, the State Hearse will carry the Queen’s coffin west along the south edge of Hyde Park in central London, 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). It will continue on the A30 and will then take the A308 to make the final part of the journey to Shaw Farm Gate outside Windsor Castle, where it will be met by the procession that will take it up the Long Walk to St George’s Chapel
1pm-3.06pm: Queen’s coffin will travel in State Hearse to the Long Walk at Windsor Castle
After the procession through London ends at 1pm, the coffin will travel in the State Hearse from Wellington Arch, by Hyde Park Corner, to the entrance to Queen’s Home Park at Shaw Farm Gate in Windsor.
Instead of taking the direct M4, the route was amended on Friday to follow smaller A-roads. For what was originally a journey of an hour, Palace aides have now scheduled twice as long to allow as many people as possible to have a last glimpse of their Queen.
The coffin will travel through Queens Gate and head down Cromwell Road, before heading down Talgarth Road via the Hammersmith Flyover.
After following the A4 through West London, the cortege will skirt the south of Heathrow before passing Runnymede, the meadow where Magna Carta was signed.
It will continue on the Great South West Road (A30) and will then take the A308 to make the final part of the journey to Shaw Farm Gate outside Windsor Castle.
3.06-4pm: Queen’s coffin is borne in glorious procession led by Household Cavalry Regiment to St George’s Chapel
At 3.06pm the State Hearse will arrive at Long Walk, the tree-lined avenue that runs to Windsor Castle, and the Queen’s coffin will be borne in another glorious procession.
It will be led by dismounted soldiers from the Household Cavalry Regiment, followed by the mounted Sovereign’s Escort and massed pipes and drums of Scottish and Irish Regiments and the Bands of the Coldstream Guards. A total of 102 military horses will take part.
After 34 minutes, the King and other members of the Royal Family will join the procession as it arrives in the castle’s quadrangle.
Members of the Life Guards make their way along the Long Walk in Windsor
People make their way along the Long Walk in Windsor ahead of the funeral
The parade will march to the beat of artillery guns firing from the Castle’s East Lawn and the toll of the Sebastopol Bell – a relic from the Crimea War which is rung to mark the death of senior royals.
Shortly before 4pm, Grenadier Guards will lift the coffin up the West Steps of St George’s Chapel, where it will rest on the catafalque. Sixteen months earlier, Prince Philip was borne up these steps.
Inside the Chapel will be staff from the Queen’s various estates, the majority of whom will not have attended the earlier funeral service at Westminster Abbey. Governors General and Prime Ministers from the Commonwealth will also attend, in a nod to the Queen’s pledge in 1953 to give her ‘heart and soul’ to the Commonwealth.
4pm: Committal Service at St George’s Chapel where the coffin is lowered into the Royal Vault
The Committal Service, conducted by the Dean of Windsor, will begin at 4pm. In a moment of sombre symbolism, the Imperial State Crown, Orb and Sceptre will be removed from the top of the coffin before the final hymn.
The King and members of the royal family will take part in centuries-old traditions and say their final goodbyes before the private burial.
Prime ministers from Commonwealth countries, and past and present members of the Queen’s household will be among the congregation in the chapel.
The Dean of Windsor will conduct the service, with prayers said by the Rector of Sandringham, the Minister of Crathie Kirk and the Chaplain of Windsor Great Park.
The chapel’s choir will sing, and after the penultimate hymn, the imperial state crown, the orb and the sceptre will be moved from the Queen’s coffin to the altar.
After the final hymn, the King will place the Queen’s Company Camp Colour of the Grenadier Guards on the coffin, while the Lord Chamberlain, former MI5 chief Lord Parker of Minsmere, breaks his Wand of Office and places it on the coffin. The tradition dates back centuries, but this is the first time it will be seen by the wider public.
The Dean of Windsor will say a psalm and the Commendation while the Queen’s coffin is lowered into the royal vault.
Queen Elizabeth II will be buried in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, alongside her parents, George VI and the Queen Mother, and her sister, Princess Margaret. Prince Philip’s body will be moved to the chapel to join his wife for eternity
The layout of St. George’s Chapel reveals where British monarchs have been buried since the 15th century, when the chapel became the final resting place of the Royal Family. They had previously been buried in London’s Westminster Abbey.
After this, the Sovereign’s Piper will play a lament and the Archbishop of Canterbury will pronounce the blessing, before the congregation sings the national anthem.
The coffin will then be lowered into the Royal Vault at the culmination of 12 days of public grief. As she is lowered, her piper will play a haunting lament. With military precision, Pipe Major Paul Burns, from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, will then slowly walk away from the gothic Chapel.
As he does so, the swirling notes from his bagpipes will gradually fade until, finally, the 800-strong congregation in the Chapel will be left in contemplative silence.
St George’s Chapel is steeped in royal history, and it is where the Queen bid farewell to her beloved husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, in a Covid-secure funeral like no other last year.
The Queen attended a multitude of services at the chapel, including many Christmas Day and Easter celebrations, as well as several major family occasions. These included the confirmation of the then-Duke of Cambridge in 1997, and the weddings of three of her grandchildren – Peter Phillips, the Duke of Sussex, and Princess Eugenie – before Philip’s funeral in 2021.
St George’s Chapel is also the resting place of 10 monarchs. The remains of Henry VIII and the beheaded Charles I are entombed there, along with the bodies of the Queen’s parents, George VI and the Queen Mother.
7.30pm: King Charles and other senior royals attend burial service in King George VI Memorial Chapel
For the Queen’s devoted family, however, there will be a final and deeply personal final ceremony.
At 7.30pm the King and other Royals will attend a burial service in King George VI Memorial Chapel.
There, the Queen will be reunited with her husband in a small chapel that is also the resting place for her parents, George VI and the Queen Mother, and where the ashes of her sister Margaret are interred.
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