London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Oct 06, 2026

Queen to lie in state for four full days before state funeral

Queen to lie in state for four full days before state funeral

The Queen will lie in state for four days before her funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday, 19 September.

The public will be allowed to view the coffin during that time.

Before this, the Queen will be at rest in St Giles Cathedral Edinburgh, for 24 hours from Monday 12 September, with people able to pay their respects.

Her family, politicians and world leaders will attend her state funeral at 11:00 BST. It will be a bank holiday.

The Queen's final journey will begin on Sunday, with her oak coffin being carried by her Balmoral gamekeepers - her own staff bringing her to a hearse that will take her to Edinburgh.

It will drive slowly to the Palace of Holyroodhouse for 16:00 BST.

On Monday afternoon, it will process to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, with members of the Royal Family. There will be a service and the coffin will rest here for 24 hours, for people to pay their respects.

The following day, Princess Anne will accompany her mother's body as it is flown back to London. The Queen's coffin will be taken from Edinburgh Airport to Buckingham Palace via RAF Northolt.

On Wednesday afternoon, it will be taken to Westminster Hall, arriving at 15:00 BST. Four clear days of lying in state will happen from Thursday, before the funeral.

Monday 19th's state funeral will be followed by a procession from London to Windsor Castle. The Queen will be laid to rest at King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor.

Her journey, beginning in simplicity, will end with the sombre grandeur of the first state funeral that many people will have seen - the last being Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.


King visits nations


Ahead of the funeral the new King will visit Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Prime Minister Liz Truss will accompany him.

A period of national mourning will last until the day of the state funeral, the government has announced. The Royal Family will observe a further period of mourning for seven days afterwards.

Westminster Abbey is the historic church where Britain's kings and queens are crowned - but there has not been a monarch's funeral service there since the 18th Century. Funerals for the Queen's father, grandfather and great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, in the 1900s, were all held at St George's Chapel, Windsor.

Heads of state from across the world will be invited to join members of the Royal Family to remember the life and service of the Queen.

Senior UK politicians and current and former prime ministers are also expected at the televised service.

There is no obligation for organisers to cancel planned events on the day of the funeral but government guidance suggests organisers of sporting fixtures or pre-planned events may wish to adjust timings to avoid clashing with the service or processions.

Some events in the immediate aftermath of the Queen's death were cancelled or postponed.

Football matches in the Premier League, English Football League or in Scotland or Northern Ireland have been postponed until Tuesday, while all games in the Women's Super League, Women's Championship and Women's FA Cup have also been put on hold. A number of horse racing, golf, and boxing fixtures have also been called off.

Large-scale strike actions planned for next week were immediately cancelled, and the Trades Union Congress said it was postponing its annual conference in Brighton.

The King confirmed earlier on Saturday that the day of the funeral would be a bank holiday, when he was proclaimed as monarch at St James's Palace, London

In his speech, he praised the Queen's "unequalled reign".

The King became the monarch after the death of his mother, but the meeting of the privy council of politicians, officials and clergy formally confirmed it.

The packed room, including all of the six living former British prime ministers, repeated the phrase. The proclamation was then read out on a balcony above Friary Court in St James's Palace.

Clerk of the Privy Council Richard Tilbrook proclaimed Charles "King, head of the Commonwealth, defender of the faith", before declaring "God Save the King".

On Saturday evening, the King's car stopped on its way down the Mall and he and Camilla, the Queen Consort, got out to greet some of the thousands of well-wishers who lined the road down from Buckingham Palace.

There were joyful shouts of "God Save the King", as he and his wife accepted bunches of flowers and handshakes.


Watch: Charles III is proclaimed King, in a ceremony broadcast for the first time

Watch: Charles III greets crowds after officially being made King


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Systemic Education Collapse Sparks Mass Student Uprisings in France
Green Party Faces Backlash Over Resolution Equating Zionism With Racism
Conservatives Debate Scrapping Environmental Rules for New Homes
Cornwall Insight Warns UK Energy Bills Could Approach £2,000 This Winter
UK Coach Operators Warn of Service Cuts as Diesel Prices Exceed £2
Scottish Parliament Approves £68 Billion Budget With New Tax and Property Measures
FCA Opens Independent Review Into Handling of Epstein Whistleblower
UK Government Drops Plan to Suspend Jury Trials in England and Wales
Bank of England Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Markets Watch November
Two Iranian Nationals Charged Over Alleged Plot Targeting Manchester Jewish Community
UK Fiscal Headroom Halves to £11 Billion Ahead of Budget, EY Warns
US Bomber Withdrawal From RAF Fairford Prompts UK Security Review
Sarah Wakfer Appointed Chair of Northern Ireland’s Health and Care Regulator
Scotland Housing Completions Fall to 11-Year Low Amid National Shortage
UK Water Companies Face Tougher Oversight and Unannounced Regulatory Inspections
Middle East Conflict Pushes UK Fuel and Wholesale Energy Prices Higher
Andy Burnham Raises Prospect of Second Brexit Referendum in Review of UK-EU Relations
EY Warns UK Fiscal Headroom Has Halved to £11 Billion Ahead of Autumn Budget
BT Accused of Pressuring Vulnerable Customers During Digital Landline Shift
British Carmakers Warn of Growing Pressure From EU-China Tariff Dispute
Green Party of England and Wales Adopts Motion Defining Zionism as Racism
Medical Charity Threatens NHS Legal Action Over Two-Year Autism and ADHD Assessment Waits
British Transport Police Report Record Rise in Violence on Railways
Glasgow Council Workers Face Pay Cuts Under Fire-and-Rehire Plan
British Medical Groups Press Prime Minister Andy Burnham to Cancel £330 Million Palantir NHS Contract
UK Faces Record Bluetongue Outbreak Across Livestock Farms
UK Schools Report Thousands of Child-on-Child Sexual Offences
High Court Overturns Ban Blocking Gaza Families From Reuniting With Relatives in UK
G7 Authorizes Emergency Fuel Release as UK Diesel Prices Hit £2 a Litre
France and Italy Draw 1-1 in Nations League Match
Pope Leo XIV and Prince Albert II of Monaco Meet in Metz
SNCF Expands Low-Cost Ouigo High-Speed Service Between Lyon and Bordeaux
Paris Expands Dedicated Cargo Bike Routes for Urban Deliveries
French Film Industry Pushes for Tighter Streaming Investment Rules
Marseille Court Hands Down Prison Terms in Public Procurement Corruption Case
LVMH and Kering Rely on US Demand as Chinese Luxury Spending Slows
Toulouse Aerospace Sector Launches €80 Million Modernization Fund
Javier Milei Courts French Investment in LNG and Lithium
Mistral AI Launches Sovereign Model for European Public Services
French Competition Authority Fines Retailers €40 Million Over Misleading Promotions
France Records Exceptional Electricity Exports as Nuclear Output Recovers
Dassault Aviation Expands Rafale Assembly Capacity at Mérignac
Sanofi Invests €1 Billion in New Biologics Production Hub Near Lyon
France Protests Germany’s Extension of Border Controls Into 2027
French Public-Sector and Transport Unions Threaten National Strike
France Deploys Riot Police After Violence in Lyon Suburbs
French Anti-Terrorism Prosecutors Investigate Radicalized Flydubai Co-Pilot
France’s Defense Budget Surpasses NATO’s 2% of GDP Target
French Government Faces No-Confidence Threat Over Budget
France and G7 Release 100 Million Barrels From Strategic Oil Reserves
×