Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for the last time on Wednesday, her coffin carried by a horse-drawn carriage and joined by grieving family members during the short journey to the Houses of Parliament, where she will he is in state until the funeral early next week. With the royal standard and crown of state resting on the casket and artillery salutes at one-minute intervals, the official procession was designed to mark the Queen’s 70 years as head of state as the process of national mourning shifts to the high avenues and historic landmarks of the capital of the United Kingdom. King Charles III, his sons Princes William and Harry and other members of the royal family walked behind the carriage. THIS IS AN UPDATE UPDATE. Previous AP story follows below. Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin will leave Buckingham Palace for the last time on Wednesday as it is taken amid somber processions in a horse-drawn carriage past crowds of mourners to the Houses of Parliament, where the late monarch will lie in state for four days. Crowds began to gather early along the flag-draped road outside the palace for the procession from the monarch’s official residence in London to the historic Westminster Hall in Parliament. King Charles III and other members of the royal family will walk behind the coffin. Thousands of people gather on The Mall outside Buckingham Palace and on the banks of the River Thames, hours before the coffin procession begins. People in the crowd cheered as Charles waved to them as he drove from his residence, Clarence House, to the palace. Joan Bucklehurst, a 50-year-old retail worker from Cheshire in northwest England, said the Queen “means so much to everyone”. “She was amazing, yes,” she added, choked up with emotion. “So we had to be here. We’ve been here a few times when there were special occasions, but this one, I couldn’t miss it.” The crowds are the latest in a nationwide outpouring of grief and respect for the only monarch most Britons have ever known, who died at her beloved summer retreat at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96, ending a 70-year reign. “It’s a very sad day, but it’s our last chance to do our duty for the Queen and it’s our first chance to do it for the King, and that makes us all very proud,” said Lt. Gen. Christopher Ghika, of Household department, which is responsible for organizing the ceremonial aspects of the Queen’s funeral. London’s Heathrow Airport has announced that it is adjusting timetables to prevent disruption to the procession of planes. British Airways canceled 16 flights as a result of the changes. The airport said in a statement that the changes would “ensure silence in central London as the ceremonial procession moves from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall”. The troops taking part in the procession had been preparing since the queen’s death. So are the horses of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery. Sgt. Tom Jenks, of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, said the horses have undergone special training, including how to handle criers, as well as flowers and flags being thrown in the streets as the procession passes. People stood behind metal barriers or sat on folding chairs, umbrellas at the ready, coffees in hand under gray skies hours before the casket was scheduled to leave the landmark palace at 2:22 p.m. (1322 GMT). Crowds have lined the route of the Queen’s coffin as it was carried on its long journey from Scotland back to London. On Tuesday night, thousands braved the typical London drizzle as the state hearse, with interior lights illuminating the sovereign’s flag-draped coffin, drove slowly from a military airbase in the heart of London. Jeff Colgan, a taxi driver who took the day off to witness the moment, was stunned in the moments after the Queen’s coffin passed. “It’s one of those things that you know is going to happen, but when it does you can’t believe it,” he said, holding his little one. Earlier in Edinburgh, around 33,000 people paid their respects in silence past her coffin as it lay in state for 24 hours at St. Giles. Hundreds of thousands are expected to do the same in London when the Queen lies in state at 900-year-old Westminster Hall, the oldest building of Parliament, for four days before her state funeral on Monday. The hall is where Guy Fawkes and Charles I were tried, where kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets and where ceremonial addresses were presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees. Chris Bond, from Truro in south-west England, was among those who lined the banks of the River Thames. He also attended the Queen Mother’s State Lying in 2002. “Obviously, it’s very difficult queuing all day, but when you walk through those doors in Westminster Hall, in this wonderful, historic building, there was a great sense of silence and someone was told you take as much time as you want, and it’s just amazing,” he said. “We know the Queen was of good age and served the country for a long time, but we hoped this day would never come,” he added. Chris Imafidon secured sixth place in the queue. “I have 1,001 emotions when I see her,” he said. “I mean, my God, he was an angel, because he touched so many good people and did so many good things.”
