Live updates: Crowds gather for queen's coffin procession

Crowds are gathering in London as the city prepares for a somber procession taking Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament

LONDON — Crowds are gathering in London as the city prepares for a somber procession taking Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament.

There, the late monarch will lie in state for four days before her funeral next Monday.

Huge crowds are expected for Wednesday’s somber afternoon procession, and long lines are also predicted to view the coffin at Parliament’s Westminster Hall.

People are standing behind metal barriers or sitting on folding chairs. Under gray skies hours before the coffin was scheduled to leave the monarch’s official London residence, they have umbrellas at the ready and takeout coffees in hand.

The coffin will be taken on a horse-drawn gun carriage past the crowds of mourners, with the queen’s son and heir King Charles III and other royals walking behind.

The queen died in Scotland last Thursday at age 96, ending a 70-year reign.

Crowds have lined the route of the queen’s coffin whenever it has been moved on its journey from Scotland back to London.

___

KEY DEVELOPMENTS:

— Thousands come for last glimpse of queen

— London diaspora district remembers a queen — ambivalently

— What to know about the queen’s lying in state

— Renewed interest in UK memorabilia in Hong Kong

— A piece of the queen: New souvenirs mark monarch’s death

— Anger over past, indifference meets queen’s death in India

— Former British colonies are conflicted over Queen Elizabeth II's legacy

— Find more AP coverage here: https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii