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.
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.
Her Majesty’s final resting place will be in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, which is an annex to St George’s
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.
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
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 Queen’s Colour Squadron, RAF, stand by as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is taken away in the Royal Hearse from the Royal Air Force Northolt airbase on September 13, 2022, to travel to Buckingham Palace
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
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.
‘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.
Before her coffin is put into the state hearse, Her Majesty’s coffin will be carried on a 123-year-old gun carriage towed by 98 Royal Navy sailors in a tradition dating back to the funeral of Queen Victoria.
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 tradition of the carriage being pulled by sailors stretches back to when the day of Victoria’s funeral in 1901.
Her coffin was being carried through the streets of Windsor by a team of horses but the animals panicked and reared up, threatening to topple the coffin off the carriage.
Captain Prince Louis of Battenberg – the future First Sea Lord of the Royal Navy – intervened and suggested to the new monarch, Edward VII, that the sailors should step in.
Once this was agreed, the horses were unharnessed and improvised ropes were attached to the gun carriage, which weighs 2.5 tonnes (3,000kg), and the team of sailors was brought in to ensure the coffin was carried safely for the rest of the route.
Only nine years later, at the funeral of Edward VII, the new routine became enshrined as a tradition which has been followed at all state funerals since.
The same State Gun Carriage has since been used at the funerals of King George V in 1936, King George VI in 1952, Sir Winston Churchill in 1965 and Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was murdered by the IRA in 1979.
The Committal Service at St George’s Chapel will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor and feature a congregation of the late monarch’s family and friends and mourners from her household past and present, including her personal staff from across her private estates.
At the end of the final hymn, the King will place the Grenadier Guards’ Queen’s Company Colour – the royal standard of the regiment – on the coffin.
Baron Parker, the Lord Chamberlain and the most senior official in the late Queen’s royal household, will ‘break’ his Wand of Office and place it on the Coffin.
As the coffin is lowered into the royal vault the Garter King of Arms will pronounce the styles and titles of the Queen and the Sovereign’s Piper will play a lament and walk slowly away so the music fades.
In the evening, a private burial service will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor, attended by Charles and members of the royal family.
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.
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
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.
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.’
Preparations for Queen’s funeral ramp up at Hyde Park where 150,000 are expected to watch ceremony on eight big screens as officials plan to accommodate mourners who can’t line streets
Preparations are ramping up at Hyde Park today, where as many as 150,000 people are expected to watch a broadcast of the Queen’s funeral on big screens on Monday.
Officials told MailOnline today there will be eight jumbotrons – six in the main parade ground and two on Serpentine Road – along with dozens of toilets and food and drink outlets.
Cranes are still visible on site as work to prepare the park for an historic final farewell to the late monarch begins to accelerate.
Bosses are trying to cater for as many viewers as possible, amid plans to redirect mourners who can’t find space on the streets to the park, according to the Evening Standard.
The area is expected to be so busy, that Transport for London will shut Hyde Park Corner tube station – along with Westminster and St James’s Park – for ‘most of the morning’ to prevent overcrowding, while buses will also be diverted due to road closures.
Thousands descended on the park on Wednesday to watch the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, but sources expect there to be substantially more arriving to watch the funeral itself on Monday.
It comes as police put a ring of steel around Westminster Abbey, in what is being described as the biggest security operation in Scotland Yard’s near-200 year history.
Preparations are ramping up at Hyde Park today, where as many as 150,000 people are expected to watch a broadcast of the Queen’s funeral on big screens on Monday
A number of portaloos have been put in place in anticipation of thousands of visitors to the park to watch the funeral
Preparations being made in Hyde Park earlier this week, with 150,000 people expected to watch the broadcast of the Queen’s funeral on big screens
Pictured: Hyde Park on Wednesday as thousands of mourners watched screens broadcasting the procession
Work has gone on through the night to make sure the site is as prepared as possible for Monday’s historic event
At least 10,000 police officers including 2,000 from around the UK will be guarding central London and the Queen’s 23 mile route to Windsor Castle on Monday.
Many roads and bridges will be shut to traffic and 23-miles of barriers put up to control crowds and keep key areas empty or secure.
The Met’s DAC Stuart Cundy, the man in charge of the operation in the capital, said the force would use ‘all tools and tactics available’ to protect the Queen’s coffin, the Royal Family, hundreds of VIPs and world leaders and the 1million people expected to head to the capital to mourn.
The senior officer told reporters the ‘hugely complex’ policing operation is the biggest in the force’s history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics which saw up to 10,000 police officers on duty per day.
Rank-and-file will line the streets supported by armed officers on the ground and snipers on rooftops. Helicopters and CCTV will help commanders watch crowds from the sky.
At Hyde Park earlier this week, a site supervisor told MailOnline that two stages have been put up, but ‘no one knows what for’.
Those working on site expect campers to arrive early the day before to bag the best spots, despite the Royal Parks pleading with visitors not to do so.
‘Anyone who attempts to camp during the National Mourning period could be asked to move on and may not be admitted,’ a notice on its website reads.
Amid reports as many as 150,000 people could flock to the park, the supervisor pointed to the greenery and told MailOnline: ‘Put it this way, you know all that green grass? You’re not going to see a blade of it on Monday’.
He added that the number of people will easily surpass the 62,000 that showed on the day of Harry and Meghan’s wedding.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Mr Cundy said: ‘This will be the largest single policing event that the Met Police has ever undertaken. As a single event this is larger than the 2012 Olympics, it is larger than the Platinum Jubilee weekend. The range of officers, police staff and all those supporting the operation is truly immense.’
He added that 34 people have been arrested as part of the policing operation in the lead up to the Queen’s funeral. The senior officer called the number recorded by Friday morning ‘relatively few’, and said none were for protesting.
Preparations being made in Hyde Park earlier this week, with 150,000 people expected to watch the broadcast of the Queen’s funeral on big screens
Friends enjoy a sit down in Hyde Park while dozens of portaloos are put in place ahead of the screening of Monday’s funeral
The royal park has already set up four big screens and food trucks as they expect campers to arrive early on Sunday to bag the best spots
Drones are known to be used in major operations while facial recognition software has been used in London. DAC Cundy declined to rule out using them, citing operational reasons, but added they would use ‘all tactics and tools’ they needed to protect the capital.
He said that he wanted the crowds to keep an eye out for drones because there is a no-fly zone over the funeral and London procession.
Motorbike escort riders, the Met’s horse-mounted branch, dog teams and the marine unit will be in place. The force will also use more than 22 miles of barriers in central London alone to control crowds and keep key areas secure.
It came as Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the policing operation for the funeral as ‘enormous’, adding that his officers are being supported by ‘pretty much every force across the country’ who are all ‘relishing the opportunity’.
Meanwhile, transport bosses said they ‘will aim to reopen stations’ after the funeral at Westminster Abbey – which will be at around noon – to help people leaving the area. Green Park station will be exit-only between 10am and 8pm.
TfL also announced that buses will pull over ‘if it is safe and practical to do so’ and switch their engines off during the one-minute silence on Sunday at 8pm and the two-minute silence on Monday at around 11.55am.
The Queen’s state funeral will ‘unite people across the globe and resonate with people of all faiths’, according to The Earl Marshal, the Duke of Norfolk, the man in charge of the historic occasion has said.
On Monday, the funeral will begin at 9am with the chiming of Big Ben.
Arriving at 11am, the late Queen’s coffin will be taken on a gun carriage from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey, where hundreds of world leaders and members of foreign royal families will be present.
At 11.55am the nation will then observe a two minute silence following The Last Post.
After the service at Westminster Abbey, the coffin will travel in procession to Wellington Arch, behind Buckingham Palace, where it will be placed in a hearse to make the journey to Windsor by road.
Along this procession route, people will be able to gather and pay their respects.
Pictured: Thousands of mourners shield their eyes from the sun as they watch screens broadcasting the procession of the Queen’s coffin on Wednesday
People will have the opportunity to watch the funeral along the procession route or at various screening sites across the country. Pictured: Hyde Park on Wednesday
As well as Hyde Park, there will be a number of other screenings across the country.
Manchester City Council has announced that the service will be projected onto screens in Cathedral Gardens, Exchange Square and inside the Manchester Cathedral.
In Birmingham, the funeral will be broadcast in Centenary Square, while The Royal Shakespeare Company also intends on screening the funeral at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park will also broadcast the service, in front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse where the Queen rested in her coffin only a few days ago.
Furthermore, the service will be streamed from various main squares across the country, including Old Eldon Square in Newcastle, Millennium Square in Leeds and Queen Victoria Square in Hull.
Sheffield Cathedral and Sheffield’s Curzon Cinema also said they will broadcast the funeral as well as Bradford Cathedral from 10am.
Vue cinemas have also announced a UK-wide free screening of the Queen’s funeral.
The Mayor of London’s Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have been approached for more details on the Hyde Park screenings.
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