Queen Elizabeth II lies in state after solemn procession | Highlights

The queen will lie in state for four days until her funeral Monday, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to file past. 

Royal bodyguards and other royal military units, including the Household Cavalry, the Grenadier Guards and the Coldstream Guards, will take turns guarding the coffin. Each period of 24 hours will be divided into four watches.

The sight of the new king's two grief-stricken sons inevitably evoked memories of 1997, when William and Harry, then aged just 15 and 12, walked, heads bowed, behind the coffin of their mother, princess Diana.

Members of the public who have waited outside for many hours are now being let into Westminster Hall to pay their respects at the queen’s coffin, which is lying in state there.

People are filing past each side of the coffin, most pausing for a brief moment to bow their heads. Some wiped their eyes while others made the sign of the cross.

A host of world leaders will attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral on Monday, September 19 including India's President Droupadi Murmu, Joe Biden and Jill Biden, President and first lady of the United States, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe among others.

The countries including Russia, Myanmar, Belarus, Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan were not invited for the funeral, as per Reuters.

The general public, wishing to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II was warned it could face a queue of as long as 30 hours to do so. The Queen's coffin is placed on a raised platform inside the Westminster Hall. 

Many shops in the UK will be closed on September 19 for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. A report by news agency AFP on Monday said Britain's biggest supermarkets led by Tesco and Sainsbury's will close, as will major clothing store Primark.

All UK branches of the fast food giant McDonald's will also be closed until after the funeral ends.

The Premier League will pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II this weekend by having a minute's silence before every game followed by the national anthem.

The league said Wednesday that fans will also be invited to applaud at the 70-minute mark, in recognition of the queen’s 70-year reign. Players will wear black armbands and managers have been asked to consider wearing a suit.

The military procession from Buckingham Palace was designed to underscore the queen’s seven decades as head of state as the national mourning process shifted to the grand boulevards and historic landmarks of the UK capital.

Thousands who had waited for hours along The Mall outside the palace and other locations along the route as the procession passed. Applause broke out as the coffin passed through Horse Guards Parade.

Four soldiers in red and gold ceremonial uniform have taken their positions at the four corners of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin, with their heads bowed.

That began a vigil on Wednesday which will be held for four days while the late monarch lies in state at Westminster Hall in London.

Queen Elizabeth II's coffin was draped in the Royal Standard as it left Buckingham Palace, topped with the Imperial State Crown – adorned with almost 3,000 diamonds -- and a bouquet of flowers and plants including pine from the Balmoral Estate, where the Queen died last week.

US President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday for the first time with King Charles III since the death of Queen Elizabeth II, offering condolences and urging a continued "close relationship," the White House said.

Biden "recalled fondly the queen's kindness and hospitality," a statement said.

As Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin left Buckingham Palace in London for the last time on Wednesday, the new heir to the British throne, William - Prince of Wales, walked side by side with his younger brother, Prince Harry - the Duke of Sussex, in a deliberate show of symbolic unity following a reported rift between the royal siblings.

The choir of Westminster Abbey and the choir of St. James's Palace are singing as Queen Elizabeth II's coffin arrives at Westminster Hall to lie in state before her funeral next week.

The service begins with a prayer from Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and includes a reading from the Book of John, as well as the Lord's Prayer.

Nearly six million people tried to follow a British Royal Air Force transport aircraft taking Queen Elizabeth II's coffin from Edinburgh in Scotland to London, making it the most tracked...read more.

Britain's new King Charles III, and his sons - William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, joined the funeral procession for Queen Elizabeth II as she made her final journey from London's Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.