Short service to mark start of Queen's lying in state

The queue to see the Queen lying in state could stretch five miles. (Photo: Getty/iStock)

The Archbishop of Canterbury will lead a short service before Westminster Hall is opened to the public for the Queen's lying in state.

Archbishop Justin Welby will be accompanied at the service by the Dean of Westminster.

It is expected to last around 20 minutes.

After the service, the hall will be opened to members of the public to come in and pay their respects over the next four days.

The government published the full queue route on Tuesday, stretching around five miles along the Thames from Albert Embankment to Southwark Park. 

It is believed around a million people will turn out to pay their last respects, with queuing times possibly peaking at 35 hours.

Only around 400,000 people are expected to be able to file past, meaning up to 600,000 people could be turned away.

Churches along the route are reportedly being asked to offer practical assistance to people waiting in line.

The Queen's coffin returned to Buckingham Palace last night from Scotland, where hundreds of thousands of people came out to pay their respects.

A short service was held the coffin's arrival, attended only by close family members.

Today, the royal family will walk behind the coffin as it is taken from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall in a solemn procession through central London.

News
Joining the dots
Joining the dots

Jewish academic and Hebrew scholar Irene Lancaster reflects on lessons from Abraham and the significance of something as small as a dot. 

Christians join calls to scrap two-child benefit limit
Christians join calls to scrap two-child benefit limit

A coalition of 101 organisations, including Christians, has called on the government to abolish the two-child limit on benefits in full, warning that “half-measures” will fail to lift families out of poverty.

Christian charity urges churches to reach out to homeless women
Christian charity urges churches to reach out to homeless women

A Christian homelessness charity has warned that thousands of women experiencing homelessness are being overlooked in official government figures.

Christian groups welcome government moves to criminalise porn depicting strangulation
Christian groups welcome government moves to criminalise porn depicting strangulation

The government has announced new laws that will criminalise the possession and publication of pornographic material depicting strangulation or suffocation, following mounting concerns that such images are helping to normalise violence in sexual behaviour.