Picture: BEN STANSALL / AFP
Hundreds of foreign royals and heads of state are expected to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on Monday, for one of the biggest diplomatic gatherings in decades.
Westminster Abbey has space for about 2 000 people. Around 500 heads of state and foreign dignitaries along with their partners are expected, according to BBC and Sky News reports.
Also attending Britain’s first state funeral for six decades will be the queen’s family members, courtiers, public figures and UK politicians.
While millions of people are expected to line the roads in London today, billions are expected to tune in on Monday, to watch the funeral of Britain’s oldest and longest reigning monarch.
The Queen’s lying-in state, where her closed coffin was placed on view to the public at Westminster Hall since Wednesday, came to an end in the early hours of Monday morning.
Westminister Abbey opened to the congregation attending the Queen’s funeral at 9am on Monday morning.
The Queen’s coffin will be carried by gun carriage from Westminister Hall to the Abbey at 11.30am.
King Charles III joined by royal family members as well as members of the Royal Household will arrive at 11.44am.
Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, which will officially start at 12pm, will be broadcast on 11 different platforms.
ALSO SEE: Who’s invited — and who’s not — to Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
The American News channel had 13.6 million subscribers ahead of the world’s most anticipated funeral on Monday morning. The channel’s live stream of the Queen’s funeral will start at 11.15am.
Click here to watch the live feed.
DStv subscribers will have a choice of six channels where they can watch Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
They are:
Subscribers to Showmax across sub-Saharan Africa can live-stream Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on the BBC World News TV channel (free until 23 September).
*Compiled by Xanet Scheepers, additional reporting by AFP.
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