Hundreds of thousands of people will continue to file past the body of Queen Elizabeth II, which is lying in state in Westminster Hall before her state funeral next week.
Look back on the day's events as they happened in our blog.
Key events
- Prince William says walking behind Queen's coffin brought back memories
- Two minutes silence to be observed across UK following Queen's funeral
- PM now en route to the UK
- The experience of seeing the Queen lying in state
- PM supports King continuing climate advocacy
- Theresa May has joined the public in paying their respects
- Prince Harry turns 38 a week on from Queen's death
- Proceedings temporarily paused inside Westminster Hall
- In pictures: From King George VI to Queen Elizabeth II, some traditions don't change
- Former Black Rod of the UK Parliament recalls Queen's 'wit and sense of humour'
- Racing identities Gai and Robbie Waterhouse to fly with PM to London
- There are so many people lining up at Westminster Hall that a 'queue tracker' has been released
- The Prime Minister and Governor-General will leave for London today
- Governor-General speaks with King Charles III, passing on condolences from Australia
- Just waking up? Here's what you missed overnight
- Watch: Queen Elizabeth's coffin arrives at Westminster
- Some people have collapsed after waiting for hours in the sun
- King Charles and US President Joe Biden speak for the first time
- Looking for yesterday's blog?
- Here's how the queue to get into Westminster Hall is looking so far
Live updates
By Jessica Riga
It's time to close the blog
We'll be back with more coverage in a few hours.
In the meantime, you can continue to stay up to date with the latest news here on the ABC News website and on our app.
Thank you for joining us today.
By Jessica Riga
King Charles to host world leaders ahead of Queen's funeral
More details around the Queen's funeral are beginning to be revealed.
Presidents, prime ministers and monarchs from around the world will travel to London over the weekend to pay their respects to the Queen and attend a reception at Buckingham Palace to be hosted by King Charles the day before her funeral.
Heads of state and other senior foreign dignitaries will be asked to gather at the Royal Hospital, a retirement and nursing home for veteran soldiers in west London, and are expected to travel in groups to Westminster Abbey, a senior Buckingham Palace official said.
The funeral will be one of the biggest policing events in Britain's history as world leaders, kings and queens and huge crowds from home and abroad descend upon London for the event.
By Jessica Riga
Vice President Wang Qishan expected to represent China at Queen's funeral
Reuters is reporting that Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan is expected to represent China at Queen Elizabeth's funeral on Monday, according to a British foreign office source.
By Jessica Riga
Prince William says walking behind Queen's coffin brought back memories
Reuters is reporting that Prince William has told well-wishers that walking behind his grandmother's coffin had been challenging and had brought back memories, alluding to the day 25 years earlier when, as a boy, he followed his mother's casket on the way to her funeral.
William, the heir to the throne, walked behind his father King Charles and side by side with his younger brother Prince Harry during Wednesday's procession taking the Queen from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.
"The walk yesterday was challenging," William told members of the public who were sympathising with him over his loss while he viewed flowers laid outside the royal Sandringham Estate in eastern England to honour the queen.
"Brought back a few memories," he could be heard saying in video footage of the exchange.
William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, followed their mother Princess Diana's coffin through central London in the glare of the world's media after she was killed in a car crash in Paris aged 36 in 1997, a defining image of their lives.
The brothers, whose relationship has become strained in recent years, have spoken in the past of the lasting trauma they endured after their mother's death and that walk, during which they maintained a stoical facade despite their grief.
While the circumstances were different this time, the Queen having died peacefully aged 96 at her Scottish home, there were similarities — the emotion, the solemn pageantry, and the sense of a momentous event unfolding in front of crowds and cameras.
By Jessica Riga
A first-hand account of seeing the Queen lying in state
The ABC's Emily Clark joined a small group of reporters this morning in a 30 minute viewing of the Queen's coffin lying in state inside Westminster Hall.
Here's her first-hand account of what it was like:
I entered the staging area through a side gate and made my way through security before being given a briefing on the protocol; no phones, no cameras, no interviews, just pen and paper.
"This is old school," one of the event volunteers explained.
We are brought through the grounds of parliament via a series of narrow paths and then enter Westminster Hall through a side door and within a few steps, we are looking at the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II.
We’re standing to the side and watch as a changing of the guard happens.
The guards standing by her coffin do not move a muscle and so there is a changing ceremony every half an hour. The long line of people moving through the hall on either side of the coffin stall while the guards change – I guess those inside the hall in those moments are the lucky ones who get more than a few brief seconds to pay their respects.
Otherwise, the line is moving quite quickly and while no-one is really making a sound, there is an energy to the room that hasn’t been present at some of the other events. Until now the Queen’s coffin has been moving past crowds of people who have watched in awe. But in this setting, it is the crowd that is moving.
Our group of reporters is soon moved through a hole in the wall and up an internal staircase before emerging onto a makeshift gallery platform where we can watch the event, but also not distract from it.
The mood is definitely very heavy, but as well as being sorrowful, I sensed people were really trying to make sure they did the right thing. People who had lined up were paying their respects, but they were also taking in the grand setting of Westminster Hall and taking the opportunity to see up close some of the details of the Queen’s farewell that had been meticulously planned for years.
As people moved past Her Majesty’s coffin, they bowed, curtseyed, crossed their heart to the father, son and holy spirit, and wiped tears from their eyes. But I think for me, the most moving moments to watch were when people had passed the coffin and were approaching the exit.
There were so many people who turned around for a last look, who seemed to almost hold their breath and gather themselves for not just the moment, but the fact ii was now over. I saw one man place his hands together, as if to say thank you.
After 30 minutes it was time for us to leave too.
We were shuffled back down the stairs, out the side door and back through the series of turns to the park. And after a lot of wrangling to access the site, we’re then released and the next batch of reporters step forward.
By Jessica Riga
Despite failing health, the Queen carried on with official duties right up until the end
Hi guys, Thank you so much for this incredible blog. Do we know if it is common for the Royal Family to release details of people's deaths? Meaning - will we eventually ever know what the cause of death was for Her Majesty? (Assuming it was something other than age etc.) Thanks Luke
- Luke
Hi Luke, thanks for your message.
So far the palace hasn't released many details and it's unclear if they ever will.
From late 2021 the Queen began to suffer what Buckingham Palace called "episodic mobility issues", and was seen using a walking stick on October 12 during a visit to Westminster Abbey.
In March she attended Prince Philip's official memorial service, amid reports palace officials had carried out a complicated plan to get her into Westminster Abbey without her being photographed using a wheelchair, as happened to her sister, Princess Margaret, in the months before her death.
When Buckingham Palace announced her death, they said the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral Castle.
By Jessica Riga
In pictures: Will and Kate greet the public in Norfolk
By Jessica Riga
Why Sandringham?
As Liana mentioned, the Prince and Princess of Wales are currently greeting members of the public and viewing the carpet of flowers, notes and balloons near the gates of the private home of the Queen in Norfolk, eastern England.
Sandringham has been the private home of four generations of British monarchs since 1862.
Queen Elizabeth's body was brought to London on Tuesday from Edinburgh. She died last Thursday in Balmoral Castle, her Scottish summer home.
By Liana Walker
Princess Anne is spending the day in Scotland
Princess Anne has been greeting members of the public at the Glasgow City Chambers.
She's there to meet representatives of organisations Queen Elizabeth II was patron of.
By Liana Walker
William and Kate are in Norfolk
Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, have travelled to the royal family’s Sandringham estate in eastern England to see some of the tributes left by well-wishers.
By Jessica Riga
Two minutes silence to be observed across UK following Queen's funeral
Buckingham Palace has announced that two minutes of silence will be observed across the United Kingdom at the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral on Monday.
By Jessica Riga
Let's go behind the scenes
Thousands of Britons are queuing up to pay their respects to the Queen's coffin, but media from around the world are also forming a line.
By Jessica Riga
Gai Waterhouse is flying with the PM due to 'heavy demand'
Australian horse trainer Gai Waterhouse and her bookmaker husband Robbie, who have been invited by the palace, are flying with the Prime Minister after they alerted Anthony Albanese's office that they could not book a commercial flight to the United Kingdom because of heavy demand.
Australia is also helping officials from Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Samoa and a fifth unnamed Commonwealth nation in the Oceania region travel to London for the funeral.
The officials are travelling on a separate flight.
By Jessica Riga
Gai Waterhouse is also on her way to the UK
Champion Australian horse trainer Gai Waterhouse AO, who Buckingham Palace has specifically invited to attend the Queen's funeral, can be seen boarding the same flight.
Ms Waterhouse told ABC Radio Melbourne the only time the Queen was able to be herself was "on the racetrack and around her trainers, that's where she could be Elizabeth."
"She knew her horses intimately, she was competitive and wanted to win", she said.
By Liana Walker
Dylan Alcott is at the airport
The current Australian of the Year is among the select few invited to attend the Queen's funeral with the Prime Minister.
By Jessica Riga
PM now en route to the UK
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon are seen boarding an RAAF aircraft at Sydney Airport, ahead of the Queen's funeral on Monday.
By Jessica Riga
One of our readers has been standing in queue
I queued from Wednesday 2100 to Thuraday 0530 to be a part of history. At that point the line commenced at the Millennium bridge. It was a tough but moving event to be a part of.
- William
Wow, thank you for sharing your experience with us, William.
By Jessica Riga
Where can I watch the Queen's funeral?
Hi there thanks for the blog as it's great to have all that update in one place. Just wondering, do we know if there will be any planned gatherings or opportunities to communally watch footage of Queen Elizabeth's funeral together around Australia or particularly in Melbourne where I am. Thank you if you have any info on that
- SW
Hi there, thanks for your message.
For those who aren't aware, the Queen's state funeral will be held at 11am on September 19 at Westminster Abbey in London.
The funeral will be broadcast live in Australia on Monday at 8pm AEST on ABC NEWS channel and ABC NewsRadio.
I'm yet to see any details about 'official' gatherings being planned, but there's nothing stopping you from inviting friends and family over if you're all wanting to witness the historic moment together.
By Liana Walker
How are people paying their respect around the world?
Across the globe people who can't be in London are mourning the Queen in their own ways.
In China people are lining up to sign a book of condolences at the British Ambassador's Residence in Beijing.
In Malaysia the Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has signed a book of condolences to remember Queen Elizabeth II with the Malaysian British High Commissioner, Charles Hay, at the Commissioner's residence in Kuala Lumpur.
Meanwhile in Dubai bouquets of flowers have been placed around a statue of Queen Elizabeth II, inside the Queen Elizabeth II Hotel as a memorial site.
