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Today, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton followed the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall in separate vehicles.
Tradition extending back to the death of her great-grandmother Queen Victoria in 1901, at 2.22pm Her Majesty was carried along The Mall on a gun carriage as her children, grandchildren, and other senior royals marched behind in time to a funeral march.
William and Harry once more pushed aside their feud and stood next to one another as their cherished grandma proceeded to Parliament. Their wives traveled behind in separate automobiles.
The procession passed the statue of the Queen’s parents, King George VI and the Queen Mother, which overlooks The Mall, with profound emotion. The Imperial State Crown, which the Queen wore on her walk back to Buckingham Palace following her coronation, glistened in the sunlight as the people held their smartphones aloft to take pictures.
Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, are driven behind the procession transporting the Queen’s body to Westminster Hall in a car.
Kate, Princess of Wales, and Camilla, Queen Consort, traveled in a car together. King Charles III and Princes William and Harry followed the casket.
As the coffin appeared, hundreds of thousands of people lined the way, yet they remained silent out of respect. As the late monarch departed her London residence for the final time, there were some quiet cheers, claps, shouts of “God Save the Queen,” and many tears shed. By 1 p.m., all viewing areas on The Mall, Whitehall, and Parliament Square were packed, and people are being turned away.
For the procession to the lying in state, the Queen’s coffin was draped with the Royal Standard and adorned with the sparkling, valuable Imperial State Crown on a purple velvet cushion and a wreath of white flowers. The flowers included white roses, spray white roses, white dahlias, and other types of foliage, including pine from the grounds of Balmoral and pittosporum, lavender, and rosemary from the gardens at Windsor.
At 2.22 p.m., the procession departed the palace and is due to arrive at Westminster Hall at 3 p.m. An approximately 20-minute liturgy will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of Westminster.
Princess Anne, who has remained with her mother since her death last Thursday, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward also accompanied the coffin on its 1.2-mile journey to Westminster Hall, the ancient heart of the Houses of Parliament, where up to one million Britons are expected to witness the Queen lying in state, as her father and mother did in 1952 and 2002.