Royal family gathers for procession
The Queen arrived at Buckingham Palace today as the British nation prepared to honour her mother with the greatest ceremonial procession for a generation.
The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, swept through the gates of her London residence after travelling from Windsor Castle as crowds gathered to witness the spectacle.
The Mall rang to the sound of military bands and marching boots in the build up to the Queen Mother’s funeral procession from St James’s Palace to Westminster Hall, where her coffin will lie in state until Tuesday.
The Prince of Wales, with his sons Prince William and Prince Harry, also travelled in the royal motorcade with the Queen but they were driven to St James’s Palace to head the procession.
From across the UK and around the world, people gathered to witness the pomp and pageantry.
Some camped overnight, many more began arriving at dawn to secure a good view of the horse-drawn gun carriage bearing the Queen Mother’s coffin through the capital to lie in state in the medieval magnificence of Westminster Hall.
Not since Sir Winston Churchill was laid to rest in 1965 or the Queen Mother’s husband King George VI passed away in 1952 has there been a military spectacle of greater calibre.
