Queen Elizabeth II will lie in state in Edinburgh and Westminster as part of 10 days of national mourning that begin today (Friday, 9).
Union flags will be lowered and flown at half-mast on royal residences, government buildings and military establishments and books of condolence will be opened, with two in Gedling borough.
King Charles III and wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, will return to London, having spent Thursday night with immediate family at Balmoral, where the Queen died.
Today he will meet Prime Minister Liz Truss and help formalise funeral arrangements.
MPs will get the chance to make their own tribute to the Queen in the Commons from 12 noon on Friday, before a further unusual session from 2pm on Saturday.
It is at that Saturday session that senior political figures will swear an oath of loyalty to the new King.
He will formally be declared king by the Accession Council, after which a proclamation will be read at St James’s Palace and he will meet Ms Truss’s cabinet.
Having received a motion of condolence in Westminster Hall, King Charles will then begin a tour of the UK home nations including Northern Ireland and Wales, with a brief ceremony in each.
As the Queen died in Scotland, her body will lie in St Giles’ cathedral in Edinburgh for 24 hours to allow close family to pay their respects. The King and the Queen Consort are expected to return to Scotland.
The Queen will then be moved to London where her coffin is expected to lie in state for three days at Westminster Hall in advance of her state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
She will then finally be laid to rest at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where her late husband, Prince Philip, and both of her parents, the Queen Mother and George VI, are also buried.
The day of her funeral and that of the coronation of King Charles III will both be national holidays.
King Charles III will formally be declared king by the Accession Council, after which a proclamation will be read at St James’s Palace and he will meet Ms Truss’s cabinet.
Having received a motion of condolence in Westminster Hall, King Charles will then begin a tour of the UK home nations including Northern Ireland and Wales, with as brief ceremony in each.
