By Ben Kerrigan-
King Charles III is to speak to both Houses of Parliament for the first time as monarch.
An estimated 900 MPs and peers will meet the King at Westminster Hall to offer condolences on the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Speakers from both the House of Commons and House of Lords, Sirs Lindsay Hoyle and Lord McFall, will address the King on behalf of MPs and peers at Westminster Hall before the King offers a reply. While in Edinburgh, His Majesty will also inspect a guard of honour at the Palace of Holyroodhouse before attending a ceremony of the keys on the forecourt.
The King will then hold audiences with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Parliament’s presiding officer Alison Johnstone, separately. Travelling alongside the Queen Consort Camilla, His Majesty will receive words of condolences from the Scottish Parliament, to which he will then reply to.
During his trip to Scotland, there will be a procession along the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral with His Majesty leading members of the Royal Family as they walk behind the late Queen’s coffin. Once at the cathedral, the members of the Royal Family will be joined by a congregation to attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.
From 5pm, members of the public will have 24 hours to pay their respects to the Queen as she lies in state. A vigil will also be observed by the King and his family at the cathedral later on in the evening.
Mourners wishing to pay their respects to the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall later this week have been warned that queues could reach as long as 20 hours. The lying-in-state will begin at 5pm on Wednesday, September 14 and will last until 6.30am on Monday, September 19.
The monarch, accompanied by Camilla, Queen Consort, will then give a reply.
Monday’s visit to Westminster will also see members of both houses pledging loyalty to the new monarch.
After the King flies to Scotland, there will be a procession along the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral. The trip will mark the start of a tour of all four nations of the UK.
His Majesty will lead members of the Royal Family – expected to include the Queen’s other children the Princess Royal, Earl of Wessex and Duke of York – as they walk behind the Queen’s coffin.
Large crowds are expected in the Scottish capital on Monday for the procession, with city council leader Cammy Day urging people to arrive in the city centre “as quickly and early as you can”.
At the cathedral, the Royal Family will be joined by a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society to attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.
Later in the evening, the King and his family will observe a vigil at the cathedral in honour of the Queen.
Her coffin will remain at the cathedral for 24 hours for members of the public to pay their respects, before being flown back to RAF Northolt and then travelling on to Buckingham Palace.
Before that, the King will return to the Palace of Holyroodhouse for an audience with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
He and the Queen Consort will then attend the Scottish Parliament, where members will deliver a motion of condolence at 17:30 BST.
Since the Queen died at Balmoral on Thursday, thousands of mourners have laid flowers and tributes at places she lived, including Buckingham Palace, Sandringham House and Windsor Castle.
More than 750,000 could file past the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall during her lying-in-state later this week. Mourners wishing to do so have been warned queues could reach 20 hours.
Hall hosted addresses by France’s war-time leader Charles de Gaulle and Nelson Mandela
The last member of the Royal Family to lie in state in the hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster, was the Queen Mother in 2002 when more than 200,000 people queued to view her coffin.
Sir Peter Bottomley, father of the House of Commons, said he expected “we’ll see ten times more than that” this week.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is a magnificent opportunity for people to come through Westminster Hall and actually feel the modernity of the monarchy and the tradition.”
Sir Peter said the events of the past few days showed how in the space of a week you can change the head of state and the prime minister and have people taking to the streets “with love and flowers”.
The lying-in-state begins at 17:00 BST on Wednesday and will last until 06:30 on Monday 19 September – the day of the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.
(Image: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)