London comes to a standstill for Queen Elizabeth’s final homecoming

In life, she made it her purpose to be seen to be believed.

In death, it was just the same, as Queen Elizabeth II came home to her family, carried by a hearse lit up as a moving beacon and watched by a city at standstill.

The late Queen, who on Tuesday night left Scotland for the final time and returned to Buckingham Palace, was enveloped in cheers, applause and the glow of countless camera phones as she made her slow journey through the streets of London.

In darkness and pouring rain, wellwishers lined the streets in a show of respect and unexpected emotion.

Motorists came to a halt, stepping outside their cars to watch the hearse go past. As the convoy reached the palace, police outriders bowed their heads, and tears streamed down the faces of members of the public who had gathered to see her go by.

As the gates of Buckingham Palace closed, the Queen’s coffin was met by her children and grandchildren, gathering in the glow of the Grand Entrance to welcome her.

In a deeply private moment - their first opportunity to gather together since the Queen’s death - they paused their public duties for one evening only in simple, quiet remembrance.

On Wednesday, they will fulfil her wishes in time-honoured tradition, walking behind her coffin in procession from the palace to Westminster Hall, where the coffin will be handed over to the public for a four-day-long lying in state.

If they had expected the public to turn out in such numbers, even they might have been astonished at the sight.

The state hearse, designed in consultation with the Queen herself, was lit from within, allowing anyone who saw it to catch a glimpse of the Queen’s “last great journey”.

Draped in the Royal Standard with a wreath of white flowers on the top, it made its way from RAF Northolt to the monarchy’s London headquarters, through a city which seemed to pause to show its respect.

The procession was the first opportunity for Londoners to see the Queen’s coffin after it lay at rest in Scotland, with locals and commuters alike braving wet weather to take their impromptu front-row positions for history unfolding.

On Wednesday, tens of thousands more have planned to line the London streets from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

The Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex are to walk behind their grandmother’s coffin as it makes its way to lie in state.

The brothers will join Queen Elizabeth II’s four children for the near-silent procession, in that time-honoured tradition of Royal duty which saw them walk behind their own mother’s coffin in such different circumstances 25 years ago.

It is designed as a “relatively small and personal procession”, in which her coffin will be carried by gun carriage and followed by members of the military, her closest personal staff and the new King’s household.

Strikingly, the Duke of Sussex will wear a morning suit for the occasion, having been prevented from wearing his military uniform in his new position as a non-working member of the family.

On Tuesday night, his press secretary issued a statement insisting his “decade of military service is not determined by the uniform he wears”.

The brothers will be joined by their cousin Peter Phillips, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Snowdon.

The Queen Consort, Princess of Wales, Duchess of Sussex and Countess of Wessex will travel to Westminster by car.

It will be the first moment the late Queen’s grandchildren and their spouses join the ceremonial mourning.

At Westminster Hall, Elizabeth II will lie in state until the morning of her funeral on Monday, with a near-constant stream of members of the public filing past her coffin.

As many as 400,000 people are expected to attend, amid growing concern that predicted five-mile queues requiring a 30-hour wait will prevent children and the elderly playing their small part in history.

Princess Royal accompanies her mother on final flight

On Tuesday, the Princess Royal accompanied her mother on her final flight, departing at 5.42pm in an RAF Globemaster C-17 military transport aircraft from Edinburgh to West London, as the Queen left Scotland for the final time.

The Princess said it had been an “honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys”, having been with the Queen in the final 24 hours of her life.

“Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting,” she said.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Scotland turned out to pay their personal respects, with 33,000 people queuing for up to 12 hours to walk past as the Queen lay at rest in St Giles’s Cathedral and lining the streets.

At 4.20pm on Tuesday, the coffin was carried from the cathedral to the sound of a lone piper to the waiting hearse, followed by servicemen from the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Members of the public lined the roads to the airport, some removing their hats as the hearse passed them, others watching in silence or filming on their mobile phones in scenes encapsulating mourning in the modern age.

At Edinburgh Airport, a guard of honour of three officers and 101 soldiers was formed by The Royal Regiment of Scotland, with an aircraft bearer party provided by the Queen’s Colour Squadron, Royal Air Force.

The aircraft, recently used for Operation Pitting to evacuate thousands of people fleeing the Taliban, took off at 5.42pm.

Nearly six million people immediately tried to log on to tracking website Flightradar24 to follow its progress until it landed at RAF Northolt before 7pm.

As the Queen left Scotland for the final time, the flag on her coffin - the Royal Standard of Scotland - was changed to the Royal Standard ready for it to arrive in England.

At Northolt, it was met by a guard of honour of three officers and 96 aviators from the Queen’s Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force and a bearer party from the Queen’s Colour Squadron.

It was loaded into the claret-coloured state hearse, used for the first time and designed by the Royal household and Jaguar Land Rover in consultation with the late Queen to allow as many people to see her journey as possible.

Flanked by police outriders, the hearse was lit as if a moving beacon transporting the coffin along the A40 in a reminder of the Queen’s oft-quoted mantra: “I have to be seen to be believed”.

As it made its way to London, motorists got out of their cars to catch a glimpse of the car, with cheers and applause echoing after it and flowers thrown in its wake.

Outside Buckingham Palace, a hush descended over the waiting crowds before the convoy arrived, breaking into spontaneous applause as it passed by the Queen Victoria Memorial.

Inside the gates of Buckingham Palace, a guard of honour provided by 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards was stationed in the Quadrangle to give the Royal salute.

A bearer party found by Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards carried the coffin to the palace’s Bow Room, where the sovereign’s piper, Pipe Major Paul Burns of the Royal Regiment of Scotland played a lament.

The Royal family, led by the King, received the Queen’s coffin, ready to take over a private, intimate evening with her family.

The gathering, the first time the 22 members of the wider family have been in the same place since the Queen’s death, was stripped of ceremony and cameras, allowing them a moment of peace in what has been a gruelling schedule.

Just a week ago, the Queen had appeared in good health and spirits, receiving Liz Truss, the new Prime Minister, at Balmoral.

On Tuesday night, the King and his three siblings, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, were supported by their spouses, the Queen Consort, Sir Tim Laurence and the Countess of Wessex.

All eight of the late Queen’s grandchildren and their husbands and wives were also present, with the Prince and Princess of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Sussex reunited again after a surprise walkabout in Windsor to view flowers on Saturday.

Other grandchildren included Princess Beatrice and her husband Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, Peter Phillips, Zara and Mike Tindall, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.

Also present were the Queen's beloved niece and nephew, Lady Sarah Chatto and Earl Snowdon, the children of Princess Margaret, hearing prayers from the Rt Rev and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullaly, Dean of the Chapels Royal.

A rota of Chaplains to the King, who were formerly appointed by the Queen, kept watch over the coffin whilst it rested overnight in the Bow Room.  

On Wednesday, the coffin will effectively be handed over to the public, for a four-day-long lying in state at Westminster Hall before the full state funeral on Monday.

The procession to Westminster Hall will step off from Buckingham Palace at 2.22pm, arriving at Westminster Hall at 3pm.

Poignantly, it will include senior members of the Royal household and the Queen’s closest personal aides, who have been invited in recognition of their many years of service and loyalty.

It will end in a 20-minute service at Westminster Hall, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury accompanied by the Dean of Westminster, with the lying in state beginning at 5pm.