RECAP: Queue to view the Queen’s coffin at St Giles’ Cathedral closed | Thousands expected to line route to Edinburgh Airport

Invites to the Queen’s funeral have not been sent to Russia, Belarus and Myanmar, while Iran will only be represented at an ambassadorial level, Whitehall sources said.

The King has left the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

The new monarch took an alternative route than expected, opting not to drive up the Royal Mile and past St Giles’ Cathedral, where small crowds had gathered.

He will travel to Edinburgh Airport, where he will board a flight to Belfast.

Hundreds of people are gathering in the village of Royal Hillsborough in Co Down ahead of the arrival of King Charles and the Queen Consort.

Large numbers are already lining the village’s Main St near Hillsborough Castle, the official royal residence in Northern Ireland.

Spectators are being driven into the village on shuttle buses amid a massive security operation.

Around 500 dignitaries from around the world will attend the Queen’s funeral.

“This is the biggest international event we have hosted in decades,” a Whitehall source said.

The source compared the logistical task to organising “hundreds of state visits” within a matter of days, whereas there might normally only be two or three a year.

For most countries, the invitation extends to the head of state plus a guest.

Members of the public are allowed entry to the gates of Buckingham Palace in central London, following an early morning rehearsal for the procession of Queen Elizabeth's coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall

Once the Queen’s coffin arrives in London, the queue route is understood to stretch from Victoria Tower Gardens across Lambeth Bridge down to Westminster Bridge, before veering right then left down Belvedere Road, through Jubilee Gardens back to South Bank and along to the Tate.

After the Tate, it is unclear where it will flow from, security staff say.

What is lying in state?

Here’s what you need to know

The late monarch’s lying in state in Westminster Hall opens to the public at 5pm on Wednesday and it will be open 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am on Monday September 19 – the day of the Queen’s funeral.

The plane set to carry the Queen’s coffin from Edinburgh to London evacuated thousands of people fleeing the Taliban in Kabul last summer.

The “heavily used” C-17 Globemaster has also been used to take humanitarian aid and weapons to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

The head of the Royal Air Force (RAF), said the aircraft has also helped “extensively” in disaster relief efforts around the world.

The RAF has been tasked with moving the Queen’s coffin on Tuesday evening.

Invitations to the Queen’s state funeral have not been sent to Russia, Belarus or Myanmar, while Iran will only be represented at an ambassadorial level, Whitehall sources have said.

The event will see around 500 dignitaries from around the world descend on London to pay their last respects to the long-reigning monarch.

They will join members of the royal family, UK prime ministers past and present, and key figures from public life at Westminster Abbey – the historic church which can hold around 2,000 people – at 11am next Monday.

An early morning rehearsal for the procession of Queen Elizabeth’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state until her funeral on Monday.

The queue to view the Queen’s coffin at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh has closed, the Scottish Government has said.

Some 26,000 people have viewed the late monarch’s coffin since Monday, a tweet from the government said.

The Queen’s coffin will be taken from the cathedral to Edinburgh Airport on Tuesday afternoon, bound for London.

The Scottish Government has asked that people do not attempt to join the queue, and endeavours will be made to ensure all those already waiting will be able to view the coffin before the lying at rest ends at 3pm.

“The queue has now closed. Please do not attempt to join the queue,” the government said on Twitter.

“Over 26,000 people have already had a chance to pay their last respects.

“We are doing everything we can to ensure that those currently in the queue can do so before 3pm, when the Lying at Rest will end.”

No guest list has been published yet, but US President Joe Biden was among the first to declare he will be flying in with his wife, Jill.

The leaders of most Commonwealth countries are expected to attend, with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying she will make the nearly 24-hour journey.

Her Canadian and Australian counterparts, Justin Trudeau and Anthony Albanese, have also confirmed their presence.