London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Nov 16, 2025

Queen Elizabeth II: A day-by-day guide from now to the funeral

Queen Elizabeth II: A day-by-day guide from now to the funeral

The Queen's coffin is in Balmoral, but soon will embark on its journey to the nation's capital ahead of her state funeral on Monday 19 September.

People will be given the chance to pay their respects to the Queen, as her body will be placed in the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Westminster Hall for people to see her coffin - a tradition known as lying in state.

King Charles III will also embark on a tour of all four nations that make up the UK.

Here is your guide to what will happen, day by day.


The Queen's oak coffin, which sits in the ballroom at Balmoral Castle, will be transported by her gamekeepers to a waiting hearse.

Her body will depart Balmoral at around 10:00, proceeding slowly on the six-hour journey to Edinburgh along more than 175 miles (280km) by road.

The coffin will arrive at the Palace of Holyroodhouse - the official residence of the British monarch in the Scottish capital - and lie in the Throne Room.

In London, the King will meet with the Secretary General of the Commonwealth at Buckingham Palace. He will later host in the palace's Bow Room the High Commissioners from the countries of which he is head of state.


King Charles will begin the day with a visit to Westminster Hall, where both Houses of Parliament will meet to express their condolences.

Accompanied by Camilla, the Queen Consort, the King will travel by air to Edinburgh. It is part of Operation Spring Tide, the codename for his first trip around around all four nations of the United Kingdom as king.

In the afternoon, the Queen's coffin will travel by procession to St Giles' Cathedral, accompanied by the King and members of the Royal Family.

The Queen's body will lie in rest at St Giles' and members of the public will be able to view her coffin, which will remain under continuous vigil for 24 hours.

The King will then return to Holyrood, where he will have an audience with the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. He and the Queen Consort will then attend the Scottish Parliament where they will receive a Motion of Condolence.

In the evening, King Charles will hold a Vigil with members of the Royal Family at St Giles' Cathedral.


Princess Anne, the Queen's only daughter, will accompany the Queen's coffin from St Giles' Cathedral to Edinburgh airport, and then by plane to RAF Northolt.

The Queen's final flight from Scotland to London is expected to arrive shortly before 19:00.

From there it will travel to Buckingham Palace, the official residence of British monarchs in London since 1837. The coffin's arrival at the palace will be witnessed by King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, before it goes to rest in the Bow Room.

Before that, the King and Camilla will visit to Belfast in Northern Ireland. They will then travel on to Hillsborough Castle to view an exhibition on the Queen's long association with Northern Ireland.

King Charles will then meet with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harrris MP, as well as other party leaders. He will also receive a message of condolence led by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

After a meeting with religious leaders, King Charles and Camilla will attend a prayer service at St Anne's Cathedral, and then return to London.


The Queen's body will travel in a public procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall shortly after 14:00.

Her coffin will be carried on a gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, and will be accompanied by a military parade as well as members of the Royal Family.

King Charles will lead the procession behind the carriage, which will be draped in the Royal Standard.

Crowds will be able to watch as it makes the journey along Queen's Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.

The journey is expected to last around 40 minutes.

There will also be large television screens set up for the occasion especially in the capital's Royal Parks.

Once in Westminster Hall, the coffin will rest on a raised platform known as a catafalque and topped with the Imperial State Crown, orb and sceptre.

Each corner of the platform will be guarded 24-hours-a-day by soldiers from units that serve the Royal Household.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will conduct a short service attended by King Charles and other members of the Royal Family, before the Hall is opened to the public.


The day marks the first of four full days that the Queen's body will lie in state in Westminster Hall, where she will remain until the morning of the state funeral.

The closed coffin will be placed upon a raised platform and the public will be able to file past and pay their respects.

Details will be released later on how people can take part, but it is expected that hundreds of thousands of mourners will be able to pay their respects in the 11th-Century building, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster and the heart of the British government.

Lying in state is a traditional formality given to the sovereign, the current or past Queen Consort, and sometimes political leaders - although no former prime minister has laid in state since Winston Churchill in 1965.


The Queen's coffin will lie in state for the second full day in Westminster Hall, where people will be able to pay their respects.

The King and Camilla will travel to Wales, marking the final of his visits to all four nations of the United Kingdom as king.


The Queen's coffin will lie in state for the third full day in Westminster Hall.


The Queen's coffin will lie in state for the fourth full day in Westminster Hall.


During the morning the Queen's lying in state will end, and the coffin will be taken in procession to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral, which is a Bank Holiday in the UK.

Among the guests that will join members of her family will be senior UK politicians and heads of state from across the world.

Following the funeral, the coffin will travel in procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch, from where it will travel to Windsor.

The state hearse will then take the coffin along the Long Walk to St George's Chapel in Windsor Chapel, where a committal service will take place.


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Nearly Half of Job Losses Under Labour Government Affect UK Youth
UK Chancellor Reeves Eyes High-Value Home Levy in Budget to Raise Tens of Billions
UK Urges Poland to Choose Swedish Submarines in Multi-Billion € Defence Bid
US Border Czar Tom Homan Declares UK No Longer a ‘Friend’ Amid Intelligence Rift
UK Announces Reversal of Income Tax Hike Plans Ahead of Budget
Starmer Faces Mounting Turmoil as Leaked Briefings Ignite Leadership Plot Rumours
UK Commentator Sami Hamdi Returns Home After US Visa Revocation and Detention
UK Eyes Denmark-Style Asylum Rules in Major Migration Shift
UK Signals Intelligence Freeze Amid US Maritime Drug-Strike Campaign
TikTok Awards UK & Ireland 2025 Celebrates Top Creators Including Max Klymenko as Creator of the Year
UK Growth Nearly Stalls at 0.1% in Q3 as Cyberattack Halts Car Production
Apple Denied Permission to Appeal UK App Store Ruling, Faces Over £1bn Liability
UK Chooses Wylfa for First Small Modular Reactors, Drawing Sharp U.S. Objection
Starmer Faces Growing Labour Backlash as Briefing Sparks Authority Crisis
Reform UK Withdraws from BBC Documentary Amid Legal Storm Over Trump Speech Edit
UK Prime Minister Attempts to Reassert Authority Amid Internal Labour Leadership Drama
UK Upholds Firm Rules on Stablecoins to Shield Financial System
Brussels Divided as UK-EU Reset Stalls Over Budget Access
Prince Harry’s Remembrance Day Essay Expresses Strong Regret at Leaving Britain
UK Unemployment Hits 5% as Wage Growth Slows, Paving Way for Bank of England Rate Cut
Starmer Warns of Resurgent Racism in UK Politics as He Vows Child-Poverty Reforms
UK Grocery Inflation Slows to 4.7% as Supermarkets Launch Pre-Christmas Promotions
UK Government Backs the BBC amid Editing Scandal and Trump Threat of Legal Action
UK Assessment Mis-Estimated Fallout From Palestine Action Ban, Records Reveal
UK Halts Intelligence Sharing with US Amid Lethal Boat-Strike Concerns
King Charles III Leads Britain in Remembrance Sunday Tribute to War Dead
UK Retail Sales Growth Slows as Households Hold Back Ahead of Black Friday and Budget
Shell Pulls Out of Two UK Floating Wind Projects Amid Renewables Retreat
Viagogo Hit With £15 Million Tax Bill After HMRC Transfer-Pricing Inquiry
Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Pinches UK GDP, Bank of England Says
UK and Germany Sound Alarm on Russian-Satellite Threat to Critical Infrastructure
Former Prince Andrew Faces U.S. Congressional Request for Testimony Amid Brexit of Royal Title
BBC Director-General Tim Davie and News CEO Deborah Turness Resign Amid Editing Controversy
Tom Cruise Arrives by Helicopter at UK Scientology Fundraiser Amid Local Protests
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Face Fresh UK Probes Amid Royal Fallout
Mothers Link Teen Suicides to AI Chatbots in Growing Legal Battle
UK Government to Mirror Denmark’s Tough Immigration Framework in Major Policy Shift
UK Government Turns to Denmark-Style Immigration Reforms to Overhaul Border Rules
UK Chancellor Warned Against Cutting Insulation Funding as Budget Looms
UK Tenant Complaints Hit Record Levels as Rental Sector Faces Mounting Pressure
Apple to Pay Google About One Billion Dollars Annually for Gemini AI to Power Next-Generation Siri
UK Signals Major Shift as Nuclear Arms Race Looms
BBC’s « Celebrity Traitors UK » Finale Breaks Records with 11.1 Million Viewers
UK Spy Case Collapse Highlights Implications for UK-Taiwan Strategic Alignment
On the Road to the Oscars? Meghan Markle to Star in a New Film
A Vote Worth a Trillion Dollars: Elon Musk’s Defining Day
AI Researchers Claim Human-Level General Intelligence Is Already Here
President Donald Trump Challenges Nigeria with Military Options Over Alleged Christian Killings
Nancy Pelosi Finally Announces She Will Not Seek Re-Election, Signalling End of Long Congressional Career
UK Pre-Budget Blues and Rate-Cut Concerns Pile Pressure on Pound
×