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Transport for London have issued new travel guidance ahead of the Queen arriving in the capital to lie in state from Wednesday.
It said that thousands are expected to arrive from all over the UK, and will mean busier services. The transport authority has advised people to avoid Green Park station, due to high numbers of passengers.
It advises people to travel instead to St James’s Park, Victoria or Piccadilly Circus, which are near Buckingham Palace.
The Elizabeth Line will run more trains, 12 an hour on Sunday 18 September. It also advises that some bus routes will be altered or stop early, and cycle lanes in the area will be impacted due to road closures.
Charles tells of ‘great admiration for Scottish people’After tributes by Nicola Sturgeon, Douglas Ross, Anas Sarwar and Patrick Harvie, party political leaders in the Scottish parliament, King Charles now responds.
Wearing a kilt, he stands and says:
I know that the Scottish parliament and the people of Scotland share with me a profound sense of grief at the death of my beloved mother. Through all the years of her reign, the Queen like so many generations of our family before her, found in the hills of this land, and in the hearts of its people, a haven and a home.
“My mother felt as I do, the greatest admiration for the Scottish people, for their magnificent achievements and their indomitable spirit. It was the greatest comfort for her to know, in turn, the true affection in which she was held. The knowledge of that depth and abiding bond must be a solace as we mourn the life of incomparable service.
“If I might paraphrase the words of the great Robert Burns, my dear mother was the friend of man, the friend of truth, the friend of age, and guide of youth. Few hearts like hers with virtue warned, few heads with knowledge so informed.
“While still very young, the Queen pledged herself to serve her country and her people and to maintain the principles of constitutional government. As we now mark with gratitude a promise most faithfully fulfilled, I am determined with God’s help and with yours to follow that inspiring example.
“The title of Duke of Rothesay and the other Scottish titles which I have had the honour of carrying for so long, I now pass to my eldest son, William, who I know will be as proud as I have been to bear the symbols of this ancient kingdom.
“I take up my new duties with thankfulness for all that Scotland has given me, with resolve to seek always the welfare of our country and its people, and with wholehearted trust in your goodwill and good counsel as we take forward that task together.”
The King and Camilla, Queen Consort then leaves the chamber while the bagpipes are being played.
Sturgeon now speaks. Here are some highlights.
Most of us simply do not remember a life without the Queen. When as Princess Elizabeth she gave a radio broadcast from South Africa on her 21st birthday she was addressing an empire that still included India. When she became monarch, Winston Churchill was prime minister.
In an everchanging and turbulent world, Her Majesty has been our constant, she has been the anchor of our nation. Our personal recollections are often intertwined with memories of her reign. I was nineyearsold when I first saw the Queen. She visited Irvin, my hometown in July 1979 to open the Magnum leisure centre, I was one of hundreds lining my streets with my mum, and by luck we ended up close to her car as it passed by. Nine-year-old me was absolutely convinced I had caught her eye.
That nine-year-old girl could not have imaged nearly 35 years later being in the front passenger seat of another car, this time with the Queen at the wheel, driving through the Balmoral estate. In recent days other leaders have shared stories from Balmoral, of barbecues cooked by Prince Philip as the Queen laid the table. These are memories I treasure too.
I did, however, experience one rather tense moment at Balmoral. My husband and I were with the Queen before dinner when the drawing room light started to flicker. To my great alarm … my husband suddenly leapt up and darted across the room. Peter had spotted the cause of the flickering light, one of the Queen’s young corgis, a beautiful pup called Sandy was eating through a lamp switch. Thankfully tragedy was adverted, not before a ticking off from his mistress.
I deeply valued the time I spent alone with the Queen. Her words of wisdom, counsel, and humour will stay in my heart for the rest of my life. However, the memory I cherish most is not from Balmoral, or from audiences at Holyrood. It is from 2015, when the Queen opened the Borders Railway. I spent the journey from Edinburgh to Tweedbank with just her and Prince Philip enjoying the recollections from times spent in Scotland.
That would have been special on any day, but it was the day when the Queen became our longest reigning monarch, allowing me to observe closely how quietly reflective she was about that historic milestone made it so much moreso. It was one of the great privileges of my life. What was obvious then and on every occasion she graced us with her presence, was the Queen’s genuine love of Scotland.
The Queen has been intrinsic to the story of modern Scotland, from the opening of the Forties oil pipeline, to the Forth bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, three commonwealth games, she was present at so many of our iconic moments. She was a true and steadfast friend of this parliament.
Our nation is in mourning today for a Queen whose loss we have not yet begun to come to terms with. We are deeply honoured by the presence today of His Majesty King Charles III and the Queen Consort. Your Majesty, we stand ready to support you as you continue your own life of service and build on the extraordinary legacy of your mother. Queen Elizabeth, Queen of Scots, we are grateful for her life, may she now rest in peace.
King Charles III is met by Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, at the Scottish parliament building where he will receive a motion of condolence. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesKing Charles and Queen Consort arrive at Scottish parliament condolence sessionKing Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort have processed into the Scottish parliament in Holyrood, as trumpets played in the background.
They had met political leaders from Scotland beforehand, including first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, and leader of the Conservative party, Douglas Ross.
Presiding officer, Alison Johnstone, opened the session and paid tribute to the Queen, who was there for the assembly’s first session in 1999.
Two minutes’ silence is now being held. Sturgeon will shortly move a motion of condolence.
Two Premier League games postponed because of policing issues caused by funeralTwo of this weekend’s biggest Premier League’s matches have been called off because of policing issues related to the Queen’s funeral.
Hours after Arsenal’s Europa League tie at home to PSV on Thursday was postponed it was confirmed that Manchester United v Leeds and Chelsea v Liverpool would go the same way.
“Following extensive consultation with clubs, police, local safety advisory groups and other relevant authorities, there was no other option but to postpone the three fixtures,” the league said.
King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort have arrived at the Scottish parliament and will attend a session where they will receive a motion of condolence.
You can watch live, below.
King Charles and Camilla, Queen Consort, attend Scottish parliament – watch live
Severin Carrell
Scotland’s former first ministers, including Alex Salmond and Labour’s Jack McConnell, have gathered in the public gallery at Holyrood for King Charles III’s first appearance at the Scottish parliament as monarch.
The King is due to take part in a motion of condolence to commemorate his mother’s death last Thursday, led by Alison Johnstone, the parliament’s presiding officer. He will then address Holyrood for the first time as king.
In the gallery, Salmond and McConnell have been joined by former presiding officers, including Lord Steel, the parliament’s first presiding officer, George Reid, Lord McConnell, Tricia Marwick and Ken Macintosh.
The public have been told to stop leaving marmalade sandwiches in Green Park as a tribute to the Queen, as it is harming the park’s wildlife.
The Royal Parks, which runs Green Park as well as other green spaces in the capital, said it was having a “negative impact” on them.
The trend comes after a sketch filmed as part of the platinum jubilee celebrations earlier this year, where the late monarch met the much-loved children’s character, Paddington Bear.
Teddies of the bear from darkest Peru have also been left at Buckingham Palace and at the official tribute site in Green Park since her death, as well as sandwiches filled with the orange preserve, wrapped in clingfilm.
A Paddington Bear teddy sits among flowers outside Buckingham Palace. Photograph: Andrew Boyers/ReutersA statement said: “We are asking people not to leave marmalade sandwiches because of the negative impact on the park’s wildlife.”
They also discouraged mourners from leaving teddies, adding that while people were able to, the Royal Parks would prefer it if they did not for sustainability reasons. Wellwishers have also been asked to remove the plastic wrapping from flowers.
Former UK prime minister Boris Johnson has spoken of his last audience with the Queen, two days before she died.
He met her at Balmoral, before Liz Truss arrived at the Queen’s Scottish residence and asked her to form a government.
In an interview with the BBC’s Fiona Bruce, Johnson said: “In that audience, she had been absolutely on it. She was actively focused on geopolitics, on UK politics, quoting statesmen from the 50s, it was quite extraordinary.
“She seemed very bright, very focused. She was clearly not well. I think that was the thing that I found so moving when I heard about her death on Thursday, I just thought how incredible that her sense of duty had kept her going in the way that it had, and given how ill she obviously was, she could be so bright and so focused. It was a pretty emotional time.”
Johnson gave a memorable tribute to the Queen in parliament on Friday, the day after her death. He told the broadcaster that her death was a “colossal” thing for him and that he felt a “slightly inexplicable access of emotion”.
The backbencher added that she never mentioned the Covid rule-breaking parties that were held in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral. “She was really absolutely focused on what she saw as the important issues. It’s a very trusting environment, the audience with Her Majesty. So that never came up.”
There are long queues in Edinburgh as people hope to get in to St Giles’ Cathedral to see the Queen’s coffin lying at rest. The cathedral has just opened to the public.