Monday 19 September 2022 11:23 AM Biden arrives for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral at Westminster Abbey trends now

President Joe Biden and his wife Jill have arrived at Westminster Abbey for Queen Elizabeth's funeral.

Biden, wearing a black suit and tie, was seen holding Jill's hand as they walked through the famous church to pay their respects to the monarch.

The President and First Lady traveled in his motorcade, known as the 'Beast', alongside five other security vehicles to be among the first world leaders to arrive at Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey began filling up from 8am as the congregation arrived up to three hours early, with Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron being among world leaders who are paying their respects to the late monarch.

Huge crowds of mourners packed the procession route outside and tens of thousands more went to Windsor, where Her Majesty will be buried later today. 

While other world leaders, including Macron and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, are arriving at Westminster Abbey for the Queen's funeral in a fleet of buses, Biden was allowed to ride in The Beast. 

The president and first lady were among some 2,000 people attending the funeral at Westminster Abbey. 

The couple arrived for the funeral, waiting in the back as a procession moved past, before taking their seats among hundreds of others. 

They arrived in London late Saturday and paid respects to the queen on Sunday, viewing her coffin at Westminster Hall, signing condolence books at Lancaster House and attending a Buckingham Palace reception for funeral guests hosted by King Charles III.

But the president's public appearances in London have been limited and controlled, part of the choreography around the elaborate farewell to the only monarch most Britons have ever known. 

He spoke only for just a few minutes Sunday about the queen, as he recalled how the woman he said reminded him of his mother kept feeding him crumpets when they had tea together last year at Windsor Castle.

One senior U.S. official said Biden's lower profile was less about protocol and more about the fact that 'it's not our show. It's the Brits' show.' The U.S. has to be sensitive to that, said the official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. 

Today, up to a million people are lining the streets of London to say a final farewell to the Queen, while leaders and royalty from across the world will attend her state funeral.

Road closures are in place across the city ahead of the Queen's funeral - a 12-mile ring of steel has been imposed in the heart of the capital along with the route the late monarch's coffin will take to Windsor later today, where she will ultimately be laid to rest.

Despite the widespread closures, huge crowds flocked into central London this morning for the funeral service.

A day packed with funeral events in London and Windsor began early when the doors of 900-year-old Westminster Hall were closed to mourners after hundreds of thousands had filed in front of her coffin since September 14. 

Many of them had spent cold nights outdoors to pay their respects around the queen's flag-draped coffin in a moving outpouring of national grief and respect.

The closing of the hall marked the end of more than four days of the coffin lying in state and the start of the U.K.'s first state funeral since the one held in 1965 for Winston Churchill, the first of 15 prime ministers during Elizabeth's reign. 

For the funeral, Elizabeth's coffin will be taken from Westminster Hall, across the road to Westminster Abbey, on a royal gun carriage drawn by 142 Royal Navy sailors. The same carriage was

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