Wednesday 14 September 2022 11:41 AM King Charles III waves to crowds as he heads to Buckingham Palace trends now

King Charles III waved to the crowds gathered outside Buckingham Palace this morning before he and his sons walk behind the Queen's coffin as she leaves her London home for the final time ahead of her lying in state.

The King was photographed arriving at the palace after leaving Clarence House, hours before Prince William and Prince Harry will set aside their feud and support their father by marching with him behind the coffin.

The royal family will accompany their matriarch on foot on the journey to Westminster Hall this afternoon where hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects after queueing for hours.

Charles, the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex, along with the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex, will form part of the procession. Anne's son Peter Phillips and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will also walk behind the procession, as well as the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Snowdon.

The Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of Sussex will travel by car. The procession will leave the palace at 2.22pm and is expected to arrive at Westminster Hall at 3pm.

Her Majesty spent her final night in the Bow Room of Buckingham Palace before she is conveyed on a gun carriage to Westminster Hall - the ancient heart of Parliament - where she will lie in state for four days until her funeral on Monday.

More than 1million people are expected to queue in central London for up to 35 hours to walk past her casket - but experts believe only 400,000 will make it inside meaning 600,000 people will be left disappointed. 

The Queen arrived at Buckingham Palace last night to tears and cheers from the huge crowds who stood in the pouring rain to welcome her home after her death at Balmoral last Thursday. The route from RAF Northolt to the palace was packed. There was a wave of lights as many raised their mobile phones in the air to film the hearse as it passed.

As the hearse drove through the gates, Charles could be seen bowing his head with Harry and Meghan stood solemnly behind the monarch. 

At 2.22pm exactly this afternoon, the Queen's coffin will be placed on a gun carriage and lead a procession down a packed Mall, along Whitehall and then into Parliament Square before entering the Palace of Westminster followed by her son, the new King, and her children and grandchildren.

The near 1,000-year-old Westminster Hall is where her father King George VI would lie in state in 1952 and where the public could pass the coffin of her mother, the Queen Mother, in 2002. Her Majesty's closed coffin will be placed on a catafalque - a raised platform, covered in the Royal Standard with the orb and sceptre placed on top.

Charles, William and Harry - along with the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex - will follow the coffin on foot as it makes its 38-minute journey in front of thousands of mourners lining the streets in central London.  

For William and Harry it will bring back painful memories of when they, aged 15 and 12, walked behind the coffin of their mother Princess Diana in 1997.

Anne's son Peter Phillips and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence will also walk in the procession, as well as the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Snowdon.

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

The procession will leave Buckingham Palace at 2.22pm borne by gun carriage of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery. The route will take the coffin through the Queen's Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards Parade and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.