Practising for their moment in history: Household Division rehearse overnight taking Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in state

• Overnight the Household Division rehearsed taking the Queen’s coffin to Westminster Hall to lie in state
• The regiments marched down the Mall in darkness as they prepared for Wednesday’s transfer in the capital
• The cortege, dressed in their ceremonial attire, were illuminated by the city’s street lights as they rehearsed
• Tomorrow King Charles III and other senior members of the Royal Family will follow the Queen’s coffin on foot
• Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing

Overnight the Household Division rehearsed taking the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in state.

The regiments marched down the Mall in darkness as they prepared for Wednesday, when there will be a procession carrying Queen Elizabeth’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall in London.

The 512-strong cortege, dressed in their ceremonial attire, were illuminated by the city’s street lights as they rehearsed for the transfer.

The early-morning rehearsal saw the horse-drawn carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery being led along the route.

A black coffin was placed on the gun carriage and, at around 4am, the procession was ordered to march and the carriage, pulled by seven black horses, made its way through the city. Police officers on horseback were also included in the rehearsal. 

Many of central London’s streets were sealed off for the massive operation. 

Tomorrow’s route will take the coffin through the Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.

The real procession begins at 2.22pm on Wednesday, and it will last 38 minutes. 

The King and other senior members of the Royal Family will follow the coffin on foot. The rehearsal, which took place before the sun came up, saw people standing in for them. 

They will also be followed by senior staff of both the Queen’s and the King’s Households, and then close personal staff.

Guardsmen march from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster in the early hours of Tuesday morning

The city’s iconic landmarks, including the London Eye, made a backdrop for the overnight rehearsal on Tuesday 

The group continued from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall in a rehearsal for the transfer of the Queen’s coffin 

A gun carriage carried a stand-in coffin, with the regiments making their way along the planned route to Westminster Hall

The cortege makes its way on The Mall in a nighttime rehearsal for when the coffin will be moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall on Wednesday

The cortege, dressed in their ceremonial attire, were illuminated by the city’s street lights as they rehearsed for the transfer

Tomorrow’s route will take the coffin through the Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard

At 3pm tomorrow the coffin is expected to arrive at the North Door of Westminster Hall, before it will be carried to the catafalque inside by the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards bearer company

The procession marched past London’s Big Ben this morning as they rehearsed for tomorrow’s coffin transfer 

A police officer on horseback is in front of the procession on the Mall, outside Buckingham Palace in London

The overnight rehearsal was in preparation for tomorrow’s transfer of the Queen’s coffin to Westminster Hall

It was thought that the procession will walk in silence, without music, however the royal Band of the Scots Guards were included in the rehearsal. 

This morning, Colour Sergeant Neil Brocklehurst, of the Band of the Scots Guards, told Good Morning Britain that it will be the only full rehearsal for tomorrow’s event. 

‘It’s a very large operation to bring everyone together,’ he said. ‘There’s the band of the Grenadier Guards, the Scots Guards, which will be leading the music, leading the coffin down the Mall.

‘There is a Royal Marines band, a tri-service Guard of Honour down at the Palace of Westminster, the Royal Navy Foot Guards, and Royal Air Force. There’s a guard of honour at Buckingham Palace, Coldstream Guards, our marching contingents from the Household Cavalry.’ 

Meanwhile, guards of honour from all three services will be positioned along the route. 

The King’s Life Guard will give a royal salute as the coffin passes through Horse Guards Arch.

Throughout the procession, minute guns will be fired at Hyde Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and Big Ben will toll.

Given the time this morning, only a few onlookers were present for the military spectacular, with some finding themselves there by chance.

However, one small group were camping outside Buckingham Palace.

John Lowell, from Streatham, south London, said he was ‘devastated’ by the news of the Queen’s death, adding: ‘We are all broken-hearted. I can’t take it in.’

His friend, Sky London, said that they have been camping since Thursday ‘so we can get a good view of things’ and insisted they will not leave until after the funeral, so that they can pay their ‘respects’.

He added: ‘Ten days (of camping) against a 70-year reign is only a fraction.’

People have been warned not to wait or camp along the route where the Queen’s coffin will be taken for the lying in state.

At 3pm tomorrow the coffin is expected to arrive at the North Door of Westminster Hall, before it will be carried to the catafalque inside by the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards bearer company.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will conduct a short service, before Westminster Hall will be opened to the public to begin the start of four-and-a-half days of the Queen lying in state.

A round-the-clock vigil will be mounted around the catafalque by officers of the Household Division, the King’s Body Guards of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, the King’s Body Guard for Scotland, the Royal Company of Archers and The King’s Body Guard the Yeomen of the Guard.    

The group will be joined tomorrow by the King and other senior members of the Royal Family, who will follow the coffin on foot

Outside the gates of Buckingham Palace, the Household Division rehearses for tomorrow’s transfer of Queen Elizabeth’s coffin

Guards march during a rehearsal for Queen Elizabeth II’s procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall 

An early morning rehearsal took place on Tuesday for the procession of Queen Elizabeth’s coffin

The group, dressed in their ceremonial attire, carried out a rehearsal through the capital city’s streets on Tuesday 

A man attends a nighttime rehearsal for when the coffin of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth will be moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall

Throughout the procession tomorrow, minute guns will be fired at Hyde Park by the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery and Big Ben will toll

The regiments marched down the Mall in darkness as they prepared for Wednesday’s transfer from Buckingham Palace

Police officers on horseback were also included in the nighttime rehearsal, with the event expected to be witnessed by hundreds of thousands

This evening the Queen’s coffin will return to London, accompanied by Princess Anne, after thousands of mourners gather to pay their respects at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

Her Majesty’s coffin will remain at the cathedral until 5pm following a poignant vigil involving her four children last night.

She will then be taken by hearse through a guard of honour formed by the Royal Company of Archers giving a royal salute to begin to Edinburgh Airport.

Upon arrival, the Queen will be received by the Royal Regiment of Scotland with a royal salute. A bearer party from the Royal Air Force will then be on hand to carry the coffin onto the aircraft.

Princess Anne, who travelled in the cortege from the Queen’s beloved Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday, will again accompany her mother on the flight to London.

She will be joined by the Very Reverend Professor David Fergusson, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland.

The RAF plane is scheduled to depart from the runway in Edinburgh at 6pm, before touching down at RAF Northolt in west London at 6.55pm.

King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the coffin in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes on Monday night

Members of the public who pay their respects at Westminster will be subject to strict security checks and restrictions, including a ban on large bags, flowers and photos (Pictured mourners filing past the coffin of The Queen Mother in Westminster Hall) 

Policing operation for funeral will be ‘hugely complex’  

A senior Metropolitan Police officer has said policing in the run-up to the Queen’s funeral will be a ‘hugely complex operation’.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy on Sunday said hundreds of extra officers had already been called in as thousands descended on the capital following the monarch’s death.

Officers are likely to be concerned with managing crowds, with a huge number of mourners expected to queue for several hours, including overnight, to pay their respects to the Queen as she lies in state, expected to be from Wednesday.

Leaders from around the globe will also travel to the UK for the state funeral on Monday, meaning security will be of increased concern.

Mr Cundy said: ‘Our role is to ensure this is going to be a safe and a secure set of events.

‘Our policing operation is hugely complex, with a huge amount of detail within it, as you can well imagine.

‘So we’re always mindful of all manner of different potential things that might occur. We know that not just the eyes of the United Kingdom but the world will be on London at this point in time.’

The bearer party will carry the Queen’s coffin from the aircraft to the waiting state hearse to begin the journey by road along the A40 towards Buckingham Palace.

Upon arrival at the palace, where thousands of well-wishers are expected to again line the streets, a further guard of honour will be formed by the King’s Guard as the coffin arrives at the Grand Entrance.

A bearer party from the Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, will carry the coffin to the Bow Room, where it will be placed on trestles witnessed by King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla.

A rota of Chaplains to the King, formerly appointed by Queen Elizabeth, will keep watch over her coffin while it rests in the Bow Room.

The King and other royals may mourn within the room, before the coffin is expected to be moved to the Throne Room – where devoted palace staff can pay their respects. 

The Queen will remain at Buckingham Palace overnight and through the morning of Wednesday, before the coffin will be borne by gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery to the Palace of Westminster.

Last night, King Charles III, Anne, the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward each stood on one of the four corners of the oak coffin with their heads bowed in a ceremony known as the Vigil of the Princes.

The Duke of York kept his eyes closed for a period of time during the 10-minute vigil, while the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex had their eyes fixed towards the floor. The King — his eyes moistening — kept his hands joined and also looked towards the floor as members of the public filed past.

The King and his family stood alongside four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, who were standing guard dressed in long-feathered hats and armed with arrows and quivers.

Members of the public — who have been filing past the coffin in their thousands throughout the afternoon — were briefly held back to allow the royals to take their place. However, they continued to file past once the vigil began, offering them an extraordinary perspective on the historic moment.

A number of members of the public bowed as they passed the King, with others walking solemnly by with heads down. Charles wore the Prince Charles Edward Stuart tartan and white heather in his lappelle from Balmoral, while Anne and Edward appeared in military uniform.

However, Andrew — despite having served in the Falklands War — wore only a morning suit, having been banned from wearing uniform on public occasions following his exile from public life amid the fallout from his role in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The Duke of York will only be permitted to appear in military dress during a second Vigil of the Princes in Westminster Hall. 

The tradition has been honoured since the death of King George V in 1936, with Princess Anne today becoming the first female royal to take part.   

The Queen Consort and Countess of Wessex sat on seats opposite the coffin while the vigil, which began at at 7.46pm and finished it at 7.56pm, took place in the ancient cathedral. The Archers have been completing 20-minute periods of standing guard at the coffin, which will remain at St Giles’ for 24 hours before it is taken to London to lie in state.

Members of the crowd cheered as Charles arrived at the cathedral, and as he departed. As he drove past them, they took pictures and video and said: ‘Here he is. Here he is. It’s the King.’

Charles waved at onlookers waiting at the barriers to see him. One woman was heard to say: ‘I missed him earlier and travelled up from Glasgow to see him. I waited five hours – I finally saw him.’   

An aerial photo showing the Queen’s four children walking down the central aisle of St Giles’ Cathedral towards the Queen’s coffin 

 The Queen’s children walk down the central aisle of St Giles’ Church following the 10-minute ceremony on Monday evening

King Charles chats with Prince Andrew as they leave St Giles’ Cathedral following the vigil on Monday evening

Members of the royal family leave by car following the end of the Vigil of the Princes at St Giles’ Cathedral on Monday evening

King Charles III and Camilla Queen Consort drive down the Royal Mile following the vigil at St Giles Cathedral

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