The Queen was guided home to Buckingham Palace last night as hundreds of thousands of mourners lined London’s rain soaked streets to honour her.
From Perivale to Paddington, generations of families broke from stunned silence to spontaneous applause as Her Majesty’s coffin passed by.
With dusk descending on the capital, brightened only by the guiding light of the Queen’s hearse, royal watchers huddled under brollies to catch a fleeting moment of history.
As the royal cortege snaked through west London from East Acton to Marble Arch, parallel rush hour traffic came to a standstill to witness the Queen’s historic final passage to the sovereign’s headquarters.
Illuminated by the flashlight of thousands of mobile phones, the Queen’s specially commissioned glass hearse designed by Jaguar-Land Rover with Her Majesty’s knowledge, slowed to a crawl towards the Victoria Memorial outside.
A spontaneous applause rippled through the crowd as the Queen was driven through the towering gates to be greeted by a royal waiting party.
Standing at the grand entrance, King Charles III and his Queen Consort were surrounded by the late monarch’s children and grandchildren and their partners, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
For one night the coffin will lie at rest in the Palace’s Bow Room before the monarch is handed to the nation to allow the public to pay their respects when she lies in state at the ancient Westminster Hall for four days.
Bursts of “Three cheers for the King” echoed around the crowd outside before Elizabeth II was carried to rest in the palace Bow Room, where she stay until this afternoon to be taken to lie in state at Westminster Hall.
As young children splashed in puddles, many with little appreciation for their small part in history, mourners from different generations wiped tears from their eyes.
Many had waited for more than three hours in the rain to see the Queen arrive “back at HQ” for the final time.
Chelsea Pensioner Brian Connor, who served in the Intelligence Corps for 23 years, was one of those watching on.
The 69-year-old said: “At the end of the day when I signed up, I pledged to defend the Queen, the family and the realm.
“She was my commander in chief.
“I just wanted to show my respect for the most remarkable woman.
“Seventy years of pure dedication - always with a smile.
“It’s the end of an era and it just gets you, it really does.”
Lee Anderson, 57, and wife Denise 51, from St Neots, Cambridgeshire, huddled near the main gates as the sun went down.
Lee, who always regretted not visiting the palace when Princess Diana died, said: “It brings a lump to your throat, seeing London come to a standstill like this.
“She’s coming home.
“The moment I saw the coffin all lit up, it just brings it home that she’s real.”
Mum Abbie Harrison, 30, from Margate, Kent, said she had “palpitations” as she waited for the Queen’s coffin to arrive with her kids, aged nine and 17 months.
“I have been really nervous all day,” she added. “It was totally surreal.
“I wanted to bring my children here for a moment in history.
“It will be something they will remember forever.”
Her son Franklin Burley, nine, added: “I’m here because the Queen was a very good lady.”
His mum added: “When she died he said ‘it’s ok because she’s in heaven now with her husband.”
Wiping away a tear, she said seeing the coffin left her feeling “overwhelmed”.
“I feel so emotional,” she added. “It’s a privilege to here.”
