The death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch has raised a host of questions about the mourning process. There will be historic set piece events at Westminster Hall, St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, as well as moments of high pageantry, thrusting officials from the royal household into the limelight.
But there is less clarity about how it will affect daily life in the UK. Below is a short guide.
What will King Charles do first?
Charles has been King since the moment that Queen Elizabeth died, but his accession will be formally acknowledged on Saturday when the so-called accession council meets in the state apartments of St James’s Palace in London.
After he has been officially proclaimed the new sovereign, King Charles will convene his first privy council, a formal advisory body of mostly senior politicians, making an oath and personal declaration alongside the new Queen Consort, Camilla, and his eldest son, Prince William.
The first public proclamation of Charles as King will be read at 11am from the balcony at St James’s Palace by the Garter King of Arms, a senior member of the Royal Household.
A second proclamation will be read at noon at the Royal Exchange in the City of London, with further proclamations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales on Sunday.
How long will the mourning period last?
A 10-day period of national mourning began on Friday and will continue until the funeral of the Queen.
In addition, King Charles has proclaimed that the royal family and its staff will observe a longer 17-day period of mourning.
Meanwhile, royal residences — including Balmoral, Sandringham, Hillsborough Castle and the Queen’s Gallery and Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace — will remain closed until after the funeral.
When is the Queen’s funeral?
The Queen’s coffin will be taken on Sunday from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, and on Monday it will be carried by procession along the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral. It will lie in state there for 24 hours, allowing members of the public to pay their respects.
On September 13, the coffin will be flown from Scotland to Buckingham Palace and then carried in a ceremonial procession to Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament. After a short service by the Archbishop of Canterbury, it will lie in state for four days. Senior royals are expected to stand guard around the coffin here, in a tradition called the Vigil of the Princes.
The Queen’s state funeral is expected to take place on Monday, September 19 at Westminster Abbey, with as many as 2,000 dignitaries attending. Her coffin will then be taken to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle for a committal service, just yards from her final resting place in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, where her mother and father are buried.
What will close during the mourning period?
The British government will pause most announcements, press releases and visits until after the official mourning period is finished, with some officials saying they expect normal work to commence on September 22; parliament is not expected to sit next week.
The Bank of England has also postponed its rate-setting monetary policy committee meeting by a week to September 22.
The Department for Education has said schools and colleges should stay open during the mourning period. “While normal attendance is expected, headteachers continue to have the power to authorise leaves of absence for pupils in exceptional circumstances,” it said.
Sporting events have also been cancelled, including the second day of the third cricket test match between England and South Africa and several football fixtures this weekend.
Meanwhile, the BBC has cancelled the Last Night of the Proms while the Mercury Music Prize has been delayed.
The Trades Union Congress has postponed its annual conference, and the RMT union has called off train strikes due to take place on September 15 and 17. The PCS union has also postponed industrial action in courts, which had been planned for the middle of September.
Will there be a bank holiday?
The public has already enjoyed one extra bank holiday for the Queen’s platinum jubilee in May this year. It is widely expected — but not yet confirmed — that there will now be another public holiday called a “Day of National Mourning”, which may be on the day of the funeral.
When is the coronation?
The process of officially crowning the new monarch may take longer than many people expect, in part to allow time to mourn his predecessor.
No date has been set for the coronation of Charles but precedent suggests there could be a delay of as long as a year.
There was a 16-month delay between the death of George VI on February 6 1952, and the coronation of his daughter Elizabeth II on June 3 1953.
Charles has let it be known that he wants a shorter, less expensive ceremony than his mother’s coronation.
