The Queen has left Scotland for the final time as her coffin travels by plane to Buckingham Palace.
The Princess Royal accompanied the late monarch as she was moved from St Giles’ cathedral, where the Scottish crown pictured right was placed on her casket, to Edinburgh airport by road.
Princess Anne will now travel with the Queen’s coffin as it is taken by Royal Air Force aircraft to RAF Northolt.
It is expected to arrive at the military airport at around 7pm and it will then be taken to Buckingham Palace in a hearse. King Charles and the Queen Consort will be waiting to receive them and the coffin will then rest in the Bow Room.
A guard of honour, made up of three officers and 96 soldiers from the King’s Guard, will be in the Buckingham Palace quadrangle as the coffin arrives.
The King’s piper will also play a lament as the coffin is carried from the hearse to the Bow room of the Palace.
The trip to London is the second stage of a long journey that started on Sunday at Balmoral castle.
The Queen’s cortege travelled over 100 miles from the Highlands of Scotland to Edinburgh, with hundreds of thousands of mourners greeting it in the villages, towns and cities that it passed through.
From Monday, the coffin has been lying in rest at St Giles’ cathedral in Edinburgh and thousands of well-wishers have queued for hours for a glimse of the casket.
One couple, Rachel Wong and Steve Tsang, had driven six hours from Loughborough to see the casket at St Giles’ cathedral. Ms Wong, who was holding her toy poodle Rufus, said she had queued five hours to get inside.
“It was very respectful and solemn inside. Everyone came together to pay our respects,” she said.
“She was the Queen of Great Britain but also the commonwealth and I am from Singapore and my husband is from Hong Kong. She was a woman of strength and an inspiration”.
Andrew Bell, 78, and his wife Deborah, 68, happened to be in Scotland on holiday from Toronto, Canada. “We’re very lucky to be able to be here and represent a bit of Canada. She’s our Queen too,” Mr Bell said.
“All our friends have been keeping up with it from home.”
Starting its journey to the airport at around 4:15pm, the Queen’s coffin was lifted out of the cathedral by kilt-wearing pallbearers and into a hearse.
The Queen’s coffin will leave Buckingham Palace around 2.20pm today and is set to travel in ceremonial procession to Westminster Hall.
There, the Queen will lie in state for four days, ahead of her state funeral on Monday 19 September. Westminster Hall will be open 24-hours-a-day from Wednesday afternoon for members of the public to pay their respects to the Queen.
Here is your guide to what will happen, day by day.
The Queen’s coffin will depart from Buckingham Palace at 14:22 BST.
Members of the public will be able to watch as the cortege makes the journey through central London – along Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.
The procession will include King Charles III, Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as other senior royals, in a journey that will take about 38 minutes. Guns will be fired at Hyde Park and Big Ben will toll.
The coffin will be adorned with the Imperial State Crown.
Crowds are expected to gather along the Mall to watch the procession and screens in the royal parks will show coverage. For those with accessibility requirements, viewing areas on the north side and south side of The Mall will be available. Details of the procession route are here.
The coffin will reach Westminster Hall at 15:00 (3 pm). Once there, it will rest on a raised platform and a short service will be held, attended by the King and members of the Royal Family.
The platform will be guarded 24-hours-a-day by soldiers from units that serve the Royal Household.