Queen’s final journey: Royals march by her side as coffin makes its way from Westminster Abbey to Windsor Castle

19 September 2022, 13:02 | Updated: 19 September 2022, 13:18

The Queen's final journey through the streets of London has begun with her grief-stricken family by her side and thousands of mourners lining the route.

The coffin, followed by the King, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, Duke of York and the Princess Royal, has begun its procession towards Wellington Arch after it was placed back onto the State Gun Carriage.

The route is being lined by the armed forces from Westminster Abbey to the top of Constitution Hill at the Commonwealth Memorial Gates.

King and siblings follow Queen's coffin in procession

Mounties of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police lead the procession followed immediately by representatives of the George Cross foundations from Malta, the former Royal Ulster Constabulary, and four representatives from the NHS.

Thousands of people lined South Carriage Drive to watch the hearse carrying the Queen's coffin.

It is the first road the hearse was driven down on its way to Windsor following the funeral procession.

In some places the crowds were 30 people deep. Mourners were seen waving flags and carrying flowers.

Minute Guns were fired in Hyde Park by The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, as Big Ben tolled throughout the duration the procession.

Ex-Service Association standard bearers, mustered by the Royal British Legion, flanked the Cenotaph on Whitehall and saluted as the Queen's coffin moved past.

The London funeral procession for Queen Elizabeth II begins

Every head in the crowd turned as one, as the Queen's coffin was carried through Whitehall and the historic surroundings, past the Cabinet War Rooms, past the Cenotaph and past Downing Street.

Scottish bagpipes played during Queen Elizabeth II funeral

A sea of smartphones greeted the funeral procession as it arrived in Whitehall, with the crowd descending into silence as the coffin came.

As the Queen's funeral procession moved past the Cenotaph in London, the King, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex saluted the memorial to Britain and the Commonwealth soldiers killed in the First and Second World Wars.

As the procession left Westminster Abbey for Wellington Arch, members of the royal family watched on.

The Queen Consort, the Duchess of Sussex, the Princess of Wales and the Countess of Wessex were seen looking sombre as the King and his siblings marched off.

Prince George and Princess Charlotte stood in front of their mother, with George looking directly at the coffin as it passed.

The gun salutes being fired every minute from Hyde Park continue to punctuate a silent atmosphere at nearby Wellington Arch.

A handful of military figures are waiting by the monument for the arrival of the Queen's funeral procession.