BBC to stream Queen Elizabeth II lying in state

The BBC is launching a dedicated stream of the Queen lying in state, for people who want to pay their respects virtually.

The service will be offered globally for those who want to pay their respects but cannot travel to London or are physically unable to queue.

It will be available on the BBC home page, the BBC News website and app, the iPlayer, BBC Parliament and Red Button.

The stream will be available from 17:00 BST on Wednesday.

People will be able to file past the coffin in Westminster Hall until the morning of the state funeral on Monday.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to visit Westminster Hall to pay their respects to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

Mourners began gathering as early as Monday, and by Wednesday morning many people had joined the queue forming on nearby streets and along the banks of the River Thames.

The Queen’s coffin was taken to Buckingham Palace after it was flown from Edinburgh to London on Tuesday evening.

It is due to leave for Westminster Hall at 14:22 BST, carried on an open gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, drawn by a team of black horses.

King Charles III, his sons Prince William and Prince Harry, and other members of the Royal Family will follow behind the coffin on foot.

After the coffin is placed in position in Westminster Hall by the Grenadier Guards, a short service will be held, attended by the King and members of the Royal Family.

It will be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury accompanied by the Dean of Westminster. Members of the Royal Family will then leave after the service.

Westminster Hall was the venue for the King’s address to MPs and peers on Monday, when he was also given their condolences.

At 17:00 BST the public will be allowed to enter the hall to file past the coffin and pay their respects.

The Queen will then lie in state until 06:30 BST on Monday, which has been declared a Bank Holiday across the UK.

During the lying-in-state period, Westminster Hall will be open for 24 hours a day.

The last member of the Royal Family to lie in state in the hall was the Queen Mother in 2002, when more than 200,000 people queued to view her coffin.