The British capital will be able to say goodbye to the queen. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected from this Wednesday in London, to greet Elizabeth II one last time, their beloved monarch back in the city almost a week after her death in Scotland.
The coffin of the queen, who died Thursday at the age of 96, was found in London on Tuesday evening. After a night at Buckingham Palace, the body will go to Westminster Hall, the oldest chamber in the British Parliament, after a solemn procession in central London.
Westminster Hall will be open 24 hours a day
For nearly five days, from Wednesday 5 p.m. (6 p.m. in Paris) until Monday 6:30 a.m., the day of the national funeral, the British will be able to come and pay a last tribute as close as possible to their sovereign. The public is massively expected at Westminster Hall, open for the occasion 24 hours a day. But it will take patience, with long queues that could stretch for miles.
The coffin of Elizabeth II has already been exposed from Monday evening to Tuesday in the Saint Gilles Cathedral in Edinburgh. Sometimes moved to tears, some 33,000 people waited for hours to go and pray briefly in front of the coffin, covered with the royal flag and the crown.
On Tuesday evening, Princess Anne, the only daughter of Elizabeth II, had accompanied her coffin on the plane which took it from Edinburgh to London. The new King Charles III, eldest son of Elizabeth II, was present to welcome the remains on his arrival at Buckingham Palace, after spending the day in Northern Ireland, a delicate stage of his accession to the throne.