SPECIAL COVERAGE: State Funeral for Queen Elizabeth II

Hundreds of thousands of mourners are in London, for the State Funeral for Queen Elizabeth II.

Spaces are filling up by the barriers on the Long Walk at Windsor where this afternoon the Queen’s funeral procession will reach its journey’s end.

Politicians from all sides of the political spectrum have arrived at Westminster Abbey.

Some 2,000 people are expected to attend the Queen’s state funeral, in what will be one of the biggest gatherings of royalty and politicians hosted in the UK for decades.

Queen Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with members of the royal family by her side. Her Majesty’s death was announced hours after Buckingham Palace revealed she had been put under medical supervision.

Foreign dignitaries

Members of royal families from across Europe will attend the funeral. This includes the kings and queens of Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain.

From further afield, Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako are attending.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden have travelled to London for the funeral. Other world leaders we expect to see this morning are French President Emmanuel Macron, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, along with leaders from many other Commonwealth nations. South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived, as has Kenya’s William Ruto.

Russia, Belarus and Syria have been excluded.