Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet, the Lord Chamberlain’s Office and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport are all involved in their execution, with the Foreign Office coordinating heads of state and foreign royals and the Metropolitan Police. and Thames Valley Police responsible for security. The Queen’s coffin is expected to be taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarch’s official residence in Scotland at the end of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, in three days and remain there for 24 hours. That afternoon, a short service at the city’s St Giles Cathedral will be attended by the King. Arrangements for moving the coffin from Scotland to London are subject to change. A plan to take it on an overnight train journey from Edinburgh Waverley station to London St Pancras is understood to have been replaced by a flight from the Scottish capital to London. A hearse will then take the coffin to Buckingham Palace, where it will lie overnight, and where members of the royal family will say prayers. From there, it will be taken by carriage to Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament, where it will be placed in a shelter where a constant vigil will be kept by the King’s Bodyguard, Gentlemen at Arms, Royal Archers and Yeomen of the Guard. Lying in State is likely to operate for almost 24 hours a day, closing briefly for cleaning only, to allow fans from around the world to pay their last respects to the Queen.
