Onlookers in tears as Queen’s crown-topped coffin leaves Buckingham Palace

London: The body of the late Queen has left Buckingham Palace, her home for the past eight decades, for the final time before lying in state at Westminster where hundreds of thousands of mourners will pay their respects over the next four days.

Thousands of people have already begun filing past the late Queen’s coffin, with the first members of the public paying their respects to the monarch shortly after 5pm London time (2am AEST).

Ceremonial viewing areas along the procession route were full an hour before the coffin began its journey, with mourners being turned away and told to head to the large screens in nearby Hyde Park.

Tens of thousands more people lined The Mall in near-silence as King Charles III and his siblings walked behind the oak casket during a 38-minute procession from the palace to Westminster Hall.

The Imperial State Crown rests on the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II.Credit:Getty

The casket, draped with the Royal Standard, was carried by gun carriage drawn by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The Imperial State Crown sat on a velvet cushion next to a wreath of white roses which included pine from the gardens of her beloved Balmoral estate in Scotland and lavender and rosemary from the gardens at Windsor Castle.

Prince William, the Prince of Wales and his brother Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, joined their father in a time-honoured tradition of royal duty which saw them walk behind their own mother’s coffin in different circumstances 25 years ago.

King Charles III and Prince William, the Prince of Wales, walk behind the coffin.Credit:Getty

The sun shone as the procession moved onto The Mall in central London and members of the crowd threw yellow roses onto the road. Mourners, some of whom had flown in from overseas for the event, could be seen crying as the coffin passed.

An eerie silence was broken only by minute guns fired from Hyde Park whilst the coffin moved towards the Palace of Westminster. The bells of Big Ben, having finally broken free of scaffolding in recent months following an £80 million ($137 million), five-year restoration project, were tolled at one-minute intervals.

The procession makes its way from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.Credit:Getty

The brothers were joined by their cousin Peter Phillips, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the late Queen’s cousin the Duke of Gloucester, and the Earl of Snowdon and son of the Queen’s only sister Princess Margaret.

It was the first time the late Queen’s grandchildren and their spouses joined the ceremonial mourning.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, Catherine, the Princess of Wales, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, travelled to Westminster by car.

Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin on The Mall.Credit:Getty

Elizabeth II died peacefully on Thursday last week at Balmoral, in the Scottish Highlands, at the age of 96, plunging the nation into 10 days of national mourning.

Wednesday’s procession was designed as a small and personal occasion ahead of the state funeral on Monday. Her coffin was also accompanied by members of the military, her closest personal staff and the new King’s household.

The Band of the Scots Guards and the Band of the Grenadier Guards played funeral marches throughout the procession, starting with Beethoven’s Funeral March No.1.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, supported by the Dean of Westminster, conducted a service, also attended by parliamentarians from Westminster and the devolved parliaments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as high commissioners of the realms, the countries where the royalty is head of state.

The choir of the chapel royal greeted the arrival of the coffin with Psalm 139, “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.”

The Queen’s children are expected to pay their own tributes, standing guard around the coffin — a tradition known as the Vigil of the Princes.

At Westminster Hall, the Queen will lie in state until the morning of her funeral on Monday, with a near-constant stream of members of the public filing past her coffin.

The coffin arrives at Westminster Hall, where it will remain for the next four days.Credit:AP

Mourners will face queues 8km long if they want to pay their respects to the Queen as she lies in state. Many are expected to be turned away with officials forecasting only 350,000 will be able to complete a viewing before Monday’s funeral.

Around 500 dignitaries from across the world are expected 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 that can hold around 2000 people.

Invitations to the Queen’s state funeral have not been sent to Syria, Venezuela or Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

While most countries around the world have been invited to send their head of state, those three countries join Russia, Belarus and Myanmar on the list of nations not asked to send a representative.

North Korea and Nicaragua have been invited only at ambassadorial level, joining Iran in that category.

The King will have a private day of reflection on Thursday after a momentous period that saw him become monarch. He has returned to his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire and is not expected to attend any public events.

In the detailed planning for the aftermath of Queen Elizabeth II’s death – known as “London Bridge” – a day was set aside at this point for the new monarch to have some time away from public duties.

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