Some flights are being disrupted at Heathrow Airport today so they do not disturb the Queen’s coffin procession.
British Airways has now confirmed 16 short-haul flights are being cancelled due to the airspace restriction.
More flights are likely to be axed during the Queen’s funeral on Monday so that the skies are silent.
Heathrow said: “Passengers will be notified by their airlines directly of any changes to flights.
“We anticipate further changes to the Heathrow operation on Monday September 19, when Her Majesty’s funeral is due to take place, and will communicate those in more detail over coming days.
“We apologise for the disruption these changes cause, as we work to limit the impact on the upcoming events.”
On Wednesday, the Imperial State Crown will be placed on top of the coffin, along with a wreath, at Buckingham Palace.
From there it will move at 2.22 p.m. (1322 GMT) on a gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery through central London to Westminster Hall, a medieval building with origins dating back to 1097 that is the oldest on the parliamentary estate.
King Charles will walk in silence behind the carriage with other senior royals, including his siblings Anne, Andrew and Edward.
Also in the procession will be his sons William, 40, now the Prince of Wales, and Harry, 37, the Duke of Sussex, whose once close relationship has deteriorated in recent years to such an extent that they were said to barely be on speaking terms.
However, they appeared together with their wives when they met well-wishers outside Windsor Castle on Saturday, in a show of unity which hinted at a possible rapprochement.
Kate, William’s wife and now the Princess of Wales, and Harry’s wife, Meghan, will travel by car, as will Charles’ wife Camilla, now the Queen Consort.
LYING-IN-STATE
With much of central London closed to traffic, large crowds were building along the route to watch Wednesday’s procession, which will be accompanied by guns firing every minute at Hyde Park, while parliament’s Big Ben bell will toll.
When the cortege reaches Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster, the coffin will be carried inside by soldiers from the Grenadier Guards and placed on a catafalque. There will be a short service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church.
Four days of lying in state will then begin until the funeral on Sept. 19.
A senior palace official described Wednesday’s event as relatively small and personal. The full-scale ceremonial procession on Sept. 19, the day of her funeral, is likely to be one of the biggest the country has ever witnessed.
In Other Developments:
The Crown star hails the Queen’s ‘dignity and grace’
The actor who played the Queen in the first two series of the hit Netflix show, The Crown, has said she is “very honoured to have been a teeny, tiny, small part of her story”.
Claire Foy told the BBC at the Toronto International Film Festival that the monarch was a “massive symbol of continuity, dignity and grace”.
Foy says she’s not just been reflecting on Elizabeth II’s legacy as a monarch but also as a “mother, grandmother and great-grandmother”.
North Korea invited to send envoy to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral – source
Britain is inviting a representative from North Korea to attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Monday, but Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela will not be given an invite, a foreign office source said on Wednesday.
The invitation for North Korea would be at an ambassadorial level, the source said.
Von der Leyen: Queen ‘spoke not only to the heart of her nation but to the soul of the whole world’
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the Queen was a “legend” who “spoke not only to the heart of her nation but to the soul of the whole world”.
In a major speech in Strasbourg, Ms von der Leyen said: “As we look around at the state of the world today, it can often feel like there is a fading away of what once seemed so permanent.
“In some ways the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last week reminded us all of that.
“She is a legend. She was a constant throughout turbulent and transforming events in the last 70 years, stoic and steadfast in her service. But, more than everything, she always found the right words for every moment in time.
“She spoke not only to the heart of her nation but to the soul of the whole world.”
Staff of King Charles told during mourning they could lose jobs
Household staff who served King Charles while he was heir to the British throne have already been told they could lose their jobs, drawing criticism from a labour union that called the move “heartless” before Queen Elizabeth is even buried.
Charles, who succeeded his mother on her death last Thursday, and his wife Camilla, the Queen Consort, will be moving from Clarence House, his London home for decades, to the monarch’s main official residence, Buckingham Palace.
A Clarence House spokesman said operations there had ceased and a consultation process with staff over redundancies had begun.
“Our staff have given long and loyal service and while some redundancies will be unavoidable, we are working urgently to identify alternative roles for the greatest possible number of staff,” the spokesman said.
The Guardian newspaper reported that up 100 employees had been told they could lose their jobs, some who had worked there for decades. They include personal servants such as footmen, valets, dressers and cooks, as well as clerical staff.
The notifications were issued even as they were working to assist the new king during the accession process — including while a thanksgiving service for his mother was under way in Edinburgh, it said. Monday will be a national holiday for the queen’s funeral.
The Public and Commercial Services Union condemned the decision to announce redundancies during the mourning period as “heartless”.
“While some changes across the households were to be expected, as roles across the Royal Family change, the scale and speed at which this has been announced is callous in the extreme,” union general secretary Mark Serwotka said.
The Clarence House spokesman said the law required staff to be made aware of the situation at the earliest opportunity.
“Despite every effort to delay until after the funeral the advice remained the same,” he said. “Any staff being made redundant will be offered enhanced redundancy payments.”
No staff would be affected for at least three months, he added.
Petition launched for annual ‘Queen Elizabeth Day’ bank holiday
More than 100,000 people have signed a petition calling for an annual “Queen Elizabeth Day” bank holiday in honour of the Queen.
Launched by John Harris on change.org, the campaign proposes that 8 September, the day the Queen died, is made an annual day off.
The petition reads: “Queen Elizabeth II is our longest reigning monarch, and arguably the nation’s, and the world’s most popular monarch.
“In the words of President Macron, ‘To you, she was your Queen, to us, she was THE Queen… the most constant symbol of Great Britain.'”
While Mr Harris had set out a target of 25,000 signatures, more than 100,000 people have signed the petition so far and thousands have shared messages of support for the proposed bank holiday.
Up to a million people expected to arrive to London
Up to one million people are expected to arrive in London to see the Queen lying in state, a senior government source was quoted by Sky News as saying.
“Certainly, it would appear they’re working to the plan that we are expecting a lot of people.”
The last time a member of the Royal Family lied in state was the Queen Mother after her death in 2002 at the age of 101.
Around 200,000 people are believed to have visited the Queen Mother’s coffin to pay their respects before her requiem service.
And in 1965, over 320,000 people passed Sir Winston Churchill’s coffin for his lying in state in Westminster Hall.
Cineworld to close all UK cinemas for queen’s state funeral
Cineworld Group, the world’s second largest cinema operator, said it will close all of its UK cinemas on the day of Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral on Monday.
“Those who have made bookings for this day (Sept. 19) will be contacted shortly,” it said in an emailed statement.
