RECAP: Queue to view the Queen’s coffin at St Giles’ Cathedral closed | Thousands expected to line route to Edinburgh Airport
Some 26,000 people have viewed the late monarch’s coffin since Monday, a tweet from the government said.
The Queen’s coffin will be taken from the cathedral to Edinburgh Airport on Tuesday afternoon, bound for London.
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Hide AdPeople are expected to line the route of the Queen’s final departure from Edinburgh as her coffin is taken to the airport this evening, with the Queen’s coffin heading to Buckingham Palace.
Here’s live updates throughout the afternoon on D-Day +4, or D+4, in the plans marking the Queen’s death.
Updates as Queen’s coffin to leave Edinburgh | Thousands expected to line route to Edinburgh Airport
MPs in an Australian state have pledged their allegiance to King Charles III, with some using the occasion to call for a republic.
Australia’s centre-left Labour Party government wants an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the nation’s head of state.
The death of the Queen last week after a 70-year reign is seen by many as an ideal opportunity for change.
Lawmakers from the minor Greens party used their swearing-in ceremony in the Victoria Parliament to advocate for an Australian head of state.
We are expecting the queue outside St Giles’ to get longer throughout the day, with wait times being around 2 hours early this morning.
While many people were warned to expect a 12-hour wait to see the monarch’s coffin at St Giles’ Cathedral, those who queued overnight said their wait-time was five or six hours.
Shortly after 6am on Tuesday the Scottish Government said the approximate waiting time was roughly two hours but added that that is expected to lengthen during the morning.
It advised people wishing to join the queue to go prepared and dressed for the weather.
Participating in the procession that will take the Queen’s coffin to Westminster Hall is “our last opportunity to do our duty for the Queen”, the senior officer in charge has said.
Major General Christopher Ghika, of the Household division, is responsible for organising the ceremonial aspects of the Queen’s funeral.
He spoke to the PA news agency amid a full rehearsal for the procession of the Queen’s coffin to Westminster Hall.
The early-morning rehearsal saw a black coffin placed on the horse-drawn carriage of the King’s Troop Royal House Artillery and marched from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the Queen will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday.
Funeral marches composed by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, and Chopin were played.
FA Cup third and fourth round replays could be scrapped this season as clubs look to catch up on games postponed following the death of the Queen.
The replays were ditched in each of the last two seasons, and the PA news agency understands this is one solution under consideration to solve the fixture backlog.
Last weekend’s Premier League programme was called off as a mark of respect and two more high-profile fixtures, at Chelsea and Manchester United, have been postponed this coming Sunday.
King Charles III in Northern Ireland
Hundreds of people are gathering in the village of Royal Hillsborough in Co Down ahead of the arrival of King Charles and the Queen Consort.
Large numbers are already lining the village’s Main St near Hillsborough Castle, the official royal residence in Northern Ireland.
Spectators are being driven into the village on shuttle buses amid a massive security operation.