Harry and William to join King Charles in procession behind Queen’s coffin as it leaves Buckingham Palace
Procession through London is expected to take around 40 minutes
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Your support makes all the difference.Prince Harry and Prince William will walk alongside their father, King Charles III, as they follow the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the late monarch will lie in state.
Following Queen Elizabeth II’s death at Balmoral Castle, she lay in state for 24 hours at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, before her coffin was received by her children, grandchildren and their spouses at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening, as crowds of mourners paid their respects outside the gates.
After being laid overnight in the Bow Room, a room in the palace’s west wing used by the Queen to host world leaders, the monarch will depart her longstanding home in London for a final time in a procession due to begin at 2.22pm on Wednesday.
In addition to his two sons, the new King will be joined by his siblings – the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex – in following the coffin on foot through central London to the oldest building on the parliamentary estate, Westminster Hall.
The Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of Sussex will travel by car.
Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Snowdon will also walk in the procession.
It is expected to reach the Palace of Westminster at around 3pm, after which point the Archbishop of Canterbury will lead a short service, accompanied by the Dean of Westminster.
William and Harry put on a united front with their wives, Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, during a large walkabout on Saturday, in which they spoke with crowds gathered to pay their respects to their grandmother.
The brothers’ relationship has appeared troubled in recent years, but the death of their grandmother saw them unexpectedly come together when they viewed floral tributes left to the late Queen at Windsor Castle.
William, Kate, Harry and Meghan arrived in the same vehicle and greeted well-wishers for around 40 minutes before William hopped into the driver’s seat of the Audi with his wife in the passenger seat, and his brother and sister-in-law in the back.
In his televised address to the nation on Friday evening, the King talked of his love for Harry and Meghan, saying: “I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas.”
Then in Harry’s tribute to his grandmother, released on Monday, Harry said he wanted to honour his father at the start of his reign as King.
The last time Charles and his two sons were all seen together in public was at the service of thanksgiving for the Queen in St Paul’s Cathedral during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
But on that occasion, Harry and Meghan were seated some distance from Charles and William on the other side of the aisle in the second row, behind the Wessex family and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
That marked Harry and Meghan’s first public appearance alongside the Windsors since they stepped down as senior royals in 2020.
In April 2021, Harry and William joined their father when they walked behind the Duke of Edinburgh’s coffin at his funeral. The brothers were separated by their cousin Peter Phillips but he dropped back half a pace at one point so the siblings appeared closer together.
After the funeral service, William and Harry could be seen speaking as they walked back up the hill from the chapel to the castle.
Mourners have already joined the queue to attend the Queen’s lying in state at Westminster Hall which begins at 5pm on Wednesday. It will continue until 6.30am on September 19 – the day of the Queen’s funeral.
The queue’s route, mapped out by the government on Tuesday night, stretches more than four miles and new official guidance warns that people will be standing for “many hours, possibly overnight”, as ministers reportedly prepare for up to one million people to visit London to pay their respects.
Additional reporting by PA
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