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
The King has left the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
The new monarch took an alternative route than expected, opting not to drive up the Royal Mile and past St Giles’ Cathedral, where small crowds had gathered.
He will travel to Edinburgh Airport, where he will board a flight to Belfast.
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.
Around 500 dignitaries from around the world will attend the Queen’s funeral.
“This is the biggest international event we have hosted in decades,” a Whitehall source said.
The source compared the logistical task to organising “hundreds of state visits” within a matter of days, whereas there might normally only be two or three a year.
For most countries, the invitation extends to the head of state plus a guest.
Members of the public are allowed entry to the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London, following an early morning rehearsal for the procession of Queen Elizabeth's coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall
Once the Queen’s coffin arrives in London, the queue route is understood to stretch from Victoria Tower Gardens across Lambeth Bridge down to Westminster Bridge, before veering right then left down Belvedere Road, through Jubilee Gardens back to South Bank and along to the Tate.
After the Tate, it is unclear where it will flow from, security staff say.
What is lying in state?
Here’s what you need to know
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 September 19 – the day of the Queen’s funeral.
The plane set to carry the Queen’s coffin from Edinburgh to London evacuated thousands of people fleeing the Taliban in Kabul last summer.
The “heavily used” C-17 Globemaster has also been used to take humanitarian aid and weapons to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.
The head of the Royal Air Force (RAF), said the aircraft has also helped “extensively” in disaster relief efforts around the world.
The RAF has been tasked with moving the Queen’s coffin on Tuesday evening.
Invitations to the Queen’s state funeral have not been sent to Russia, Belarus or Myanmar, while Iran will only be represented at an ambassadorial level, Whitehall sources have said.
The event will see around 500 dignitaries from around the world descend on London to pay their last respects to the long-reigning monarch.
They will join members of the royal family, UK prime ministers past and present, and key figures from public life at Westminster Abbey – the historic church which can hold around 2,000 people – at 11am next Monday.