Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is set to leave Buckingham Palace for the last time as it is taken, amid somber pageantry, on a horse-drawn gun carriage past crowds of mourners to the Houses of Parliament, where the late monarch will lie in state for four days.
Crowds began massing early Wednesday along the flag-lined Mall outside the palace for the procession from the monarch's official London residence to the historic Westminster Hall at Parliament.
People are standing behind metal barriers or sitting on folding chairs, umbrellas at the ready, takeout coffees in hand under gray skies hours before the coffin is scheduled to leave the landmark palace at 2:22 p.m. (1322 GMT).
People who want to view the queen's coffin can do so from 5 p.m. local time Wednesday until 6:30 a.m. on Monday.
British officials have published two waiting routes along the River Thames that the public need to join before they can enter Westminster Hall.
The closed coffin will be draped with a royal flag and adorned with royal regalia.
Royal guards will stand 24 hours a day at each corner of the platform.