Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin to return to London to lie in state
London, Sep 13 (EFE).- Thousands of soldiers in military uniform participated in the early hours of Tuesday morning in a military rehearsal of the procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin to Westminster Hall in central London.
Troops were ordered to march along Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard at around 3:00 am GMT. A black coffin was used as part of the rehearsal.
The real procession will take place on Wednesday when the late queen’s coffin will be carried from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth II will lie in state for four days. King Charles III and members of the royal family will walk behind the cortege.
On Tuesday afternoon, the late monarch’s coffin will be flown from St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, where it has been lying for the past 24 hours, to London in a British Air Force plane.
Meanwhile, King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla are flying to Northern Ireland as part of their tour of the United Kingdom.
It will be Charles III’s first visit to the country since being officially proclaimed as the new monarch and head of state of the UK on Saturday. The King is expected to meet with Stormont’s party leaders and receive a message of condolence in the assembly.
A state funeral will be held for the queen, who died in her Balmoral estate Thursday last week at the age of 96, on September 19. EFE
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