Pictures: Queen Borne by Gun Carriage to Westminster Hall for Five-Day Lying-in-State

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 14: Queen Elizabeth II's flag-draped coffin is taken in p
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The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II has moved in procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the commencement of the lying in state, borne through central London on the State Field Gun Carriage.

The Royal family, led by King Charles III but including his siblings and children, walked in march step alongside hundreds of solders, sailors, airmen, and long-serving members of the Royal Household Wednesday afternoon in a cortege with the Queen’s coffin as it moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. The Queen had lain at rest at Buckingham Palace overnight, but was placed on the historic State Field Gun Carriage for her penultimate journey.

A general view of the coffin of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II inside Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, where she will Lie in State on a Catafalque, in London on September 14, 2022. – Queen Elizabeth II will lie in state in Westminster Hall inside the Palace of Westminster, from Wednesday until a few hours before her funeral on Monday, with huge queues expected to file past her coffin to pay their respects. (Photo by Dan Kitwood / POOL / AFP) (Photo by DAN KITWOOD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon, Prince William, Prince of Wales, King Charles III, Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Timothy Laurence, Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Mr Peter Phillips walk behind the coffin during the procession for the Lying-in State of Queen Elizabeth II on September 14, 2022 in London, England.  (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The use of a specially modified field gun to move the casket in a state funeral dates back to the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901, from when the tradition of the carriage being pulled by men, not horses, also dates. In 1901, Army horses pulling the carriage got out of hand and threatened to tip the carriage over: men of the Royal Navy instead manned the ropes.

Reflecting those traditions, today the Queen’s carriage is being drawn by Army horses from, Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall. On Monday, it will be drawn by a team of sailors.

Walking behind the coffin was the King in Royal Air Force uniform, flanked by his Brothers and sisters, and followed by other senior royals including King Charles’ children William and Harry. The cortege was flanked by scarlet-coated soldiers of the Guards — soldiers who by turns protect the monarch, provide ceremonial duties, and are elite fighting troops — and proceeded by a party of sailors and Royal Marines.

Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin is taken in procession on a Gun Carriage (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(Photo by Tom Jenkins – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Once at Westminster Hall, the near-millennia old building that was built as a Royal Palace and now forms part of the Houses of Parliament, the Queen’s coffin was unloaded from the gun carriage and carried inside by a group of soldiers. Placed on a purple-draped catafalque on a central dais of scarlet, prayers were said and hymns sung. With the casket placed under guard in a continuous vigil for the next five days, the lying-in-state began.

From 5pm this evening (12EST) Westminster hall will be open to the public, and will remain open 24-hours-a-day until the early morning of Monday 19th. During this time, the public will be able to file through the ancient hall in silence and pay their final respects to the monarch.

The lying-in-state is expected to be extremely well attended. The same for the Queen’s mother attracted 200,000 mourners in 2002, and several times as many are that are expected to see the Queen in the coming days. A major concern is those who wish to pay respects may overwhelm the capacity of central London, Westminster Hall, and the government’s logistical operation to contain them.

It is claimed queues may be five miles long and take 30 hours to reach the front at peak times. Once the queuing is done, there will be airport-style security to enter the Palace of Westminster and attendees have been told not to bring bags, food, drink, and a host of other prohibited items inside, making long-term queuing a more difficult prospect.

But provisions have been made for those on the route, including extra toilets and water fountains with those queueing able to leave and rejoin for loo breaks. Businesses along the route selling food are also expected to keep longer hours, given the lying-in-state with the opportunity to visit and pay respects going on 24-hours-a-day.

(Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

Members of the public line the Queen Victoria Memorial and the Mall as King Charles III and members of the royal family walk behind Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 14: Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin is taken in procession on a Gun Carriage of The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery through the gates of Buckingham Palace and onto Westminster Hall on September 14, 2022 in London, England. The queen will lay in state until the early morning of her funeral. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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