London prepares for 1 mn visitors for funeral

London: London's transport authority says it is preparing for around 1 million people to visit the British capital Monday for Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral.

Transport for London chief Andy Byford said Sunday the capital has seen huge numbers of additional passengers since the queen died on Sept. 8. But he said demand will reach a climax on Monday.

Across the country some 250 extra train services will run, including some overnight trains. Peter Hendy, chairman of Network Rail, said Monday will see the biggest public transport operation since the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

More than 100 Heathrow Airport flights will be canceled to prevent aircraft noise disturbing the funeral at Westminster Abbey Monday morning and the queen's committal service at Windsor Castle afterward.

The west London airport said 15 per cent of its 1,200 flights due to take off or land on Monday will be disrupted.

Large screens across the parks of the UK and many cinema chains are being prepared to screen the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II from Westminster Abbey in London on Monday morning, the UK government said on the last day of a gigantic queue on Sunday to file past the coffin of the late monarch Lying-in-State at Westminster Hall.

The UK's first state funeral in 57 years follows a strict protocol and will be steeped in military traditions, with rehearsals being undertaken for many days.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said there will be public viewing areas set up in London and Windsor, where the Queen will be laid to rest later on Monday a public holiday across the UK.

A National Moment of Reflection will take place at 8 pm local time on Sunday, when community groups, clubs and other organisations, as well as people at home are being asked to observe a one-minute silence in memory of the monarch.

Across the country big screens will be put up, including in London's Hyde Park, Sheffield's Cathedral Square, Birmingham's Centenary Square, Carlisle's Bitts Park, Edinburgh's Holyrood Park and Coleraine Town Hall in Northern Ireland, DCMS said.

Cinemas across the UK are also opening their screens to show the funeral bringing together local communities to commemorate, it noted.

The queue of mourners will close at 6.30 am local time on Monday morning for preparations of the state funeral, being attended by hundreds of world leaders, royals and representatives of community organisations, including Indian President Droupadi Murmu who arrived in the UK on Saturday evening.

The Queen's coffin will be conveyed in procession from Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey for the funeral service to commence at 11 am and conclude around an hour later with a national two-minute

silence.

A public procession will begin at 12.15 pm as the late monarch's coffin travels from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch in London for its onward journey to Windsor.

The Queen, who died aged 96 at her Balmoral Castle residence in Scotland on September 8, will be buried in a private royal ceremony beside her late husband, Prince Philip, at the King George VI Memorial Chapel on Monday evening.

On Saturday, her eight grandchildren Princes William and Harry and their cousins Zara Tindall, Peter Philips, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie and Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount James Severn observed a vigil by her coffin even as thousands continued to file past to pay their respects.

King Charles III and Prince William also made a surprise appearance to greet members of the public in the queue to thank them for their condolences and for enduring the long hours of waiting on foot to pay their respects.

The funeral of the only monarch most Britons have known involves the biggest security operation London has ever seen.

Mayor Sadiq Khan says Monday's state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II is an unprecedented" security challenge, with hundreds of thousands of people packing central London and a funeral guest list of 500 emperors, kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers and other leaders from around the world.

It's been decades since this many world leaders were in one place, said Khan. This is unprecedented in relation to the various things that we're juggling.

There could be bad people wanting to cause damage to individuals or to some of our world leaders, Khan told The Associated Press.

So we are working incredibly hard the police, the security services and many, many others to make sure this state funeral is as successful as it can be.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said the hugely complex policing operation is the biggest in the London force's history, surpassing the London 2012 Olympics.

More than 10,000 police officers will be on duty Monday, with London bobbies supplemented by reinforcements from all of Britain's 43 police forces.

Hundreds of volunteer marshals and members of the armed forces will also act as stewards along the processional route.

They are just the most visible part of a security operation that is being run from a high-tech control centre near Lambeth Bridge, not far from Parliament. Street drains and garbage bins are being searched and sealed.