The King and other senior royals have walked behind the late Queen’s coffin in a solemn procession from Buckingham Palace.

In scenes evoking memories of their mother Princess Diana’s final journey from the palace, princes Harry and William were side by side along the route to Westminster Hall.

It was a symbolic show of unity as William, 40, now the Prince of Wales, and Harry, 37, the Duke of Sussex, have reportedly barely been on speaking terms after a bitter falling out in the last couple of years.

The new Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, and Harry’s wife, Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex travelled in separate cars. Queen Consort Camilla was also driven to the ceremony.

Kate wore a diamond and pearl leaf brooch that had belonged to the Queen.

The piece features a trio of large pearls set in the centre of a pave-decorated leaf, and had been loaned to Kate by the monarch in the past.

The princess also wore pearl drop earrings thought to have belonged to her late mother-in-law, Diana, for the service in Westminster Hall on Wednesday.

Londoners stop to say goodbye

Huge crowds gathered in central London to witness the Queen being taken from the palace to parliament as artillery guns fired salutes and Big Ben tolled, the latest in a series of ceremonies as Britain mourns the 96-year-old monarch who died last week.

• Click here to watch the service at Westminster Hall

Lying on a gun carriage, covered by the Royal Standard and with the Imperial State Crown on a cushion on top alongside a wreath of flowers, the coffin bearing Elizabeth’s body was taken in a slow, sombre procession from her London home to the historic hall.

There it will lie in state for four days.

Walking directly behind were the King and his siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

A military band playing funeral marches and soldiers in scarlet uniforms led the cortege, with the gun carriage drawn by the King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, as it moved slowly through central London, where many roads were closed to traffic.

Guns fired every minute at Hyde Park while parliament’s famous Big Ben bell also rang at 60-second intervals.

The crowds stood in a hushed silence as they watched the procession but then broke into spontaneous applause when it passed.

Some threw flowers.

When the procession reached Westminster Hall, a mediaeval building with origins dating back to 1097 and the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster that houses the British parliament, the coffin was carried inside by soldiers from the Grenadier Guards and placed on a catafalque surrounded by candles.

A short service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church, followed.

Public viewing

Later the public was allowed to file by in a constant stream, 24 hours a day, during four days of lying in state that will last until the morning of the funeral on September 19.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said Elizabeth had three keys roles in her life: Head of the family, head of the nation and head of state.

Wednesday marked the moment her coffin passed from the family to the state.

“I don’t think we’ll see anything like that again ever, or a Queen like that again,” said Paul Wiltshire, 65, among the crowd for the procession.

“An end of an era.”

People started waiting in line late on Tuesday, sleeping on the street in the rain, to be one of the first to file past the coffin, and already a queue nearly two kilometres long has sprung up.

“We didn’t even think about it,” said Glyn Norris, 63, adding a bit of rain would not deter her.

“That was my Queen.”

Among those gathered, some were there to represent elderly parents, others to witness history and many to thank a woman who, having ascended the throne in 1952, held her last official government meetings just two days before she died.

The government has warned the queue could stretch for up to 16 kilometres along the southern bank of the River Thames, winding past landmarks such as the giant London Eye and a reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said some people might have to stand in line for as long as 30 hours.

“She’s an icon of icons,” mourner Chris Imafidon said.

“I must at least endure this camping out of respect.”

Speaking to those in the queue, the Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell, quipped: “We are honouring two great British traditions, loving the Queen and loving a queue.”

As many as 750,000 mourners are expected to walk through Westminster Hall to pay their final respects.

-with AAP

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