Hundreds of thousands expected to pay last respects to Queen Elizabeth II in London

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II from Wednesday, when the former monarch’s coffin lies in state in London.

Queen Elizabeth the Second’s coffin arrived at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening, making its way from Scotland through a rainy London as crowds lined the route to bid the Queen a final farewell.

People waved as the vehicle carrying her body made its way into London after she arrived from her final voyage from Edinburgh to the capital by plane.

The late monarch’s coffin left her beloved Scotland, where 33,000 people filed silently past it in the 24 hours after it was brought to the Scottish capital’s St. Giles’ Cathedral from her cherished summer retreat, Balmoral.

The Queen died there on 8 September at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.

The coffin will be taken by horse-drawn gun carriage on Wednesday to the Palace of Westminster to lie in state for four days before Monday’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.

While the hall will be open to the public, reports have warned of waits of up to 30 hours to get inside.

Meanwhile King Charles has been visiting Edinburgh and Belfast as part of his new duties. On Friday he will visit Cardiff in Wales on the final stop of his four-nation tour.