THE SQUIZ
Hundreds of thousands of people have spent 4 days lining up to see the Queen’s coffin lying in state in a queue that stretched up to 16km long – and today, Queen Elizabeth will make her final journey. Her State Funeral will be attended by 2,000 guests featuring bussed in global heads of state, royalty from around the world, and key Commonwealth figures who will honour the life of Britain’s longest reigning monarch. The Earl Marshal, Edward Fitzalan-Howard (who is responsible for delivering state occasions), says the funeral will “resonate with people of all faiths while fulfilling Her Majesty and her family’s wishes to pay a fitting tribute to an extraordinary reign”.

LET’S START WITH THE FUNERAL…
Planning began years ago, with the Queen in the driver’s seat of every aspect of what will be one of the biggest public events ever held in London and expected to be watched by billions of people. Using Aussie eastern time, at 7:44pm, her coffin will be placed on the State Gun Carriage, and King Charles and the royal family will follow in a procession for the short walk from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey. At 8pm (11am local time), the Dean of Westminster Dr David Hoyle and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby will begin a one-hour service, which will conclude with the Last Post and a 2-minute silence (which is to be observed across the UK), before the national anthem brings the funeral to a close. At 9:15pm, the coffin will travel in a public procession to Wellington Arch by 11pm, with thousands of people lining the streets for one last glance. Gun salutes will be fired in Hyde Park as Big Ben tolls. The coffin will then be placed into a new custom-made State Hearse and driven to Windsor Castle.

AND THEN WHAT?
A committal service will be held in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle at 1am Tuesday, followed by a private burial service at 4:30am. The Queen will be interred next to her late husband Prince Philip in the King George VI memorial chapel, alongside her father, mother, and the ashes of her sister Princess Margaret. At 9am on Tuesday, the UK’s official period of National Mourning will end, but the royal family will continue the Royal Mourning for another week. After that it’s on with the show – but we don’t know yet when Charles’ coronation will take place… There will be plenty of time to dissect what the Queen’s death means for the royals and the UK. But for now, Dr Hoyle, who will lead tonight’s service, says “it’s a funeral. It’s for a grieving family. That’s really important, personal sorrow at the heart of this.”

If you’re keen to watch the historic moment, the coverage of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is being broadcast on Seven, Nine, SBS and ABC TV tonight.