Queen’s coffin procession: King Charles to lead royals including Prince William and Prince Harry

Prince Harry and Prince William have reunited in grief to join the procession behind the Queen’s coffin on its way to Westminster Hall.

Prince Harry and Prince William reunited in grief as they joined the procession behind the Queen’s coffin on its way to Westminster Hall.

The feuding brothers set their differences aside to walk side-by-side behind their father King Charles.

But Harry’s wife Meghan Markle travelled to the 1,000-year-old Hall separately from Kate Middleton and the Queen Consort, Camilla - taking a car with Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

Charles led the royal mourners as the Queen’s body made its way from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, where it will lie in state for four days.

Alongside him were Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward.

Also taking part in the procession were Anne’s son, Peter Phillips, her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Snowdon.

Zara and Mike Tindall, Princess Beatrice’s husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank joined them. Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson was not invited.

Andrew and Harry wore morning suits, rather than military regalia, as they are no longer working royals. They did, however, wear their medals.

For William and Harry, the procession could bring back dark memories of following the coffin of their mother, Princess Diana, as the world watched after her death in 1997.

On that occasion the young princes, aged just 15 and 12, bowed their heads while following their mother’s body, alongside Charles and their grandfather the late Duke of Edinburgh.

Members of the public - who are massed in their tens of thousands - were seen openly weeping as the cortege passed them by, while others applauded the new King.

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Prince William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex walk behind the coffin during the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales walk behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / POOL / AFP)

William and Harry were side by side (Photo by Daniel LEAL / POOL / AFP)

Britain's King Charles III walks behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, adorned with a Royal Standard and the Imperial State Crown. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP)

The gun carriage carrying the Queen’s coffin arrived at Westminster Hall just after 3pm.

She will now lie in state for the next four days, following a vigil attended by members of the Royal Family this afternoon.

Following the conclusion of the procession from Buckingham Palace, the guards carefully removed her coffin from the carriage outside the Hall and carried it inside in unison.

Sitting atop the coffin, which is draped in the yellow and red Royal Standard flag, is the Imperial State Crown upon a purple velvet cushion.

The crown is made of gold and set with almost 3,000 diamonds, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, 269 pearls and four rubies.

After entering the Hall, the coffin was placed upon the catafalque by the Bearer Party.

As the choir sung, the King, along with members of the Royal Family, stood in formation behind the Queen.

The service for the Queen got underway shortly after her arrival at Westminster, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Dean of Westminster, Dr David Hoyle.

It began with a reading from the Book of John, as well as the Lord’s Prayer.

During the service, the Cross of Westminster was ceremoniously placed at the head of the coffin.

The Queen’s coffin will lie in state for four days (Photo by Christopher Furlong / POOL / AFP)

Harry and Meghan bow as they leave the service at Westminster Hall. (Photo by Ben Stansall / POOL / AFP)

Prince William, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle stood together at the service at Westminster Hall. Picture: BBC

It features an inscription of the words by Isaiah 2:4: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore.”

Just before 3.30pm, the royal party exited the Hall as the service wrapped up.

The new King, with Camilla by his side, paused at the door to share a private moment with the Archbishop of Canterbury, during which he appeared to offer gratitude for the ceremony.

The Archbishop responded with a bow of his head, saying “thank you” back to the monarch.

With the family now having departed in a fleet of cars, Westminster Hall will close for the next hour until doors are reopened at 5pm to allow the first members of the public in to pay their respects to the Queen.

Among the first non-royals to attend the Hall were top politicians, including British Prime Minister Liz Truss, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Welsh leader Mark Drakeford.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is driven behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II. SHe was joined by Sophie, Countess of Wessex (Photo by Daniel LEAL / POOL / AFP)

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, did not wear military uniform but did sport his medals (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The royals set off on the sombre march at 2.22pm (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The Queen’s coffin left Buckingham Palace on a gun carriage at 2.22pm, specifically timed to take 38 minutes to reach its destination.

Its route took it past thousands of gathered mourners lined up on The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.

Earlier on Wednesday, the gathered crowds cheered as King Charles passed on his way to Buckingham Palace, after spending the night at Clarence House.

The Queen Consort, Camilla, was dressed in black and wearing a matching hat as she waved and smiled at the thousands of well-wishers lining The Mall.

Members of the public will be allowed to file past the Queen’s coffin from 5pm for four days - night and day - until the morning of the funeral on Monday.

As many as a million people are expected to join the extraordinary 30-hour, 10-mile queue to view her coffin, which will stretch back miles along the Thames.

The ceremonial gun carriage arrives at Buckingham Palace. It will carry the Queen’s body to Westminster Hall. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The Life Guard dismounted detachment of the Household Cavalry and the Dismounted detachment of the Blues and Royals are seen entering the gates of Buckingham Palace ahead of the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Police officers patrol along the Mall ahead of the procession. (Photo by Victoria Jones / POOL / AFP)

Britain's King Charles III waves to the crowds after leaving Clarence House ahead of the ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP)

Britain's King Charles III arrives at Buckingham Palace. (Photo by ISABEL INFANTES / AFP)

Camilla, Queen Consort, is seen arriving at Buckingham Palace ahead of the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Both Brits and foreigners determined to view Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin have queued overnight in the heavy rain in London.

Leigh Gregory, 58, from London, arrived at 7.30pm on Tuesdat with nothing but a trench coat and a bin bag-turned-makeshift poncho later given to him by a fellow royalist.

“It was dry but then within 25 minutes the heavens opened and I got absolutely soaked through. It’s still soaking wet,” he said touching his coat.

“It was really heavy and didn’t really stop until the early hours.”

Mr Gregory said the Queen served her country with “dignity, honour, honesty” and it was his duty to be there “rain or shine”.

Like many in the queue, he had made friends so each could take turns in stepping away to use the bathroom.

Leigh Gregory was near the front of the long line. Picture: news.com.au

One of those friends was American David Liddle, 54, who only flew into London from Utah on Tuesday afternoon and joined the queue at 6.30pm.

“We came out during the Platinum Jubilee and she didn’t attend many of the events so I thought she must be kind of going downhill,” he said.

“And after her husband passed too I thought she might not be too far behind so at that time I started thinking and planning ahead, I wanted to be there when the Queen passes and just pay my respects.”

Mr Liddle booked his flights and accomodation two hours before the Royal Family announced her death on Thursday evening.

He said he knew this would be it when news broke the Queen’s children had rushed to be by her side at Balmoral in Scotland.

“She exemplifies to me grace and dignity, selfless service and faithfulness - something that tends to be lacking today in our world,” Mr Liddle said.

“With her dying it kind of makes me wonder maybe the world is changing and losing some of that.”

Patricia King, 69, also spent the night in the rain, but said she would have been there even if it was snowing.

She came alone but had since made five queue buddies.

Miss King, from Norwich in the south east of England, said a kind man with a nearby flat had allowed the group to use his bathroom and take short breaks from the rain.

“We haven’t slept. The adrenaline has kicked in,” she said with a smile.

“(The Queen) has given so much of her life for her people and this is one way we can show our respect back.

Patricia King has joined the queue to view the Queen's coffin. Picture: news.com.au

And there was another special reason Miss King was determined to be there.

“My mother and I came for the Queen Mother’s funeral in 2002, we had to queue for a long while then … I lost my mum so this is my tribute as well for my mum because my mum was a big royalist.”

Stephen Hallgate, 61, from London, arrived at 8am on Tuesday to be eighth in the line.

“Gradually, every hour there was a few (more) people coming and now there’s a lot lot more coming,” he said.

He described the experience of waiting more than 24 hours as “fabulous”.

“I didn’t get any sleep at all. I was running on the energy of the moment,” he said.

“It’s been a fabulous experience. We’ve had lots of fun and lots of laughs. No tears. The tears will come when we’re in front of the coffin I’m sure.”

Originally published as Queen’s coffin procession: King Charles to lead royals including Prince William and Prince Harry