The Queen is making her final journey to Buckingham Palace this evening, with the plane carrying her coffin passing over Birmingham and the West Midlands.
The coffin bearing Queen Elizabeth ll has been flown on a C17 aero-plane from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt in London this evening, September 13. After the momentous flight, the former monarch will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday, September 19.
The 96-year-old died on Thursday, September 8, at her Scottish home in Balmoral Castle, and her body has remained in Scotland since then. However her coffin will be flown to RAF Northolt in London, with a possibility that the plane could pass over the Midlands region.
The Queen 's coffin was moved from Barmoral to the palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on Sunday, September 11, before it was escorted by the King and Queen Consort to St Giles Cathedral yesterday, September 12. There, it laid in state so the people of Scotland could pay their respects up until around 3pm today, September 13.
READ MORE:How to see plane carrying Queen's coffin as it travels over West Midlands from Edinburgh to London
The Queen's coffin was then taken via cortege to Edinburgh airport later this afternoon, passing through the streets of Scotland's capital. It was then set to have been loaded onto an aircraft, with a guard of honour from the Royal Regiment of Scotland, before departing for London.
The exact flight path of the plane is not known, as there is no set flightpath between Edinburgh and London. But two possible paths could see it fly directly over the Midlands.
One could come over Brownhills towards Sutton Coldfield as it makes its way to the capital. Flightpaths shown on website FlightRadar24 show the possible routes the plane could take.
The second possible path would see the plane go over the East Midlands, soaring above Leicester down towards Northampton. However, air traffic or the weather could cause the flight path to be diverted.
Once the monarch arrives at RAF Northolt, the coffin is set to be removed by a party of bearers and placed in a state hearse, complete with a guard of honour carried out by the Queen's Colour Squadron. The coffin will be taken via a convoy eastwards along the A40, from the airport, to Paddington in London, before passing landmarks such as Marble Arch and Constitution Hill, arriving at Buckingham Palace.
The Queen's coffin is set to remain there overnight and then it will be taken to Westminster Hall tomorrow, September 14, where it will lie in state, with hundreds of thousands of mourners set to file past it before her funeral takes place on Monday in six days time.
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Plane carrying coffin of Queen flies over West Midlands ahead of her funeral
A plane carrying the Queen's coffin flew over Birmingham and the West Midlands ahead of her funeral. The C17 aero-plane baring the coffin of Queen Elizabeth ll passed over the region on its way to London from Edinburgh.
Read the story here.
Plane carrying the Queen's coffin photographed flying over Sutton Coldfield
The plane carrying the Queen's coffin has been photographed flying over Sutton Coldfield.
Photographer Tim Lloyd took the incredible shot of the belly of the C17 aero-plane passing over the town.
The plane carrying the coffin of the Queen has touched down in London
The plane carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth ll has touched down at RAF Northolt in London. The map below shows the flight path of the plane.
Flight nearing London
The flight carrying the Queen's coffin is now nearing London, with an estimated arrival time at RAF Northolt of 6.47pm.
Queen's coffin plane flight tracker app crashes after 400,000 people try to log on
A flight tracker app showing the path of a plane carrying the Queen's coffin temporarily crashed tonight after more than 460,000 logged on. Flightradar24, which is tracking the flight from Edinburgh airport to RAF Northolt in north west London, was forced to create a virtual queue to keep the website going, it said. Read the story here.
Plane flies over Sutton Coldfield and east Birmingham
Plane flies over Cannock Chase
Plane flying over Lancashire
Flight radar app shows path of flight
The flight radar app, Flightradar24, is showing the path of the flight bearing the Queen's coffin. The red areoplane is the one carrying the coffin.
Flight radar app stops working due to experiencing high volume
A flight radar app tracking the flight of the Queen has stopped working for some users due to high volume.
Flightradar24 has become unavailable to some users minutes after the flight carrying the Queen's coffin took off from Edinburgh airport.
A message on the website said: "We are experiencing a high volume of traffic and using a virtual queue to limit the amount of users on the website. This will ensure you have the best possible online experiences."
The website has given users estimated wait times to view their real-time map as two minutes.
Flight most tracked on radar app
The flight carrying the Queen's coffin is the most tracked flight on the radar app Flightradar24.
The flight, which has just departed, has 462,000 tracking it live via the app, which shows real-time locations and flight paths of aircrafts in the sky.
The plane has taken off
The plane carrying the Queen's coffin, a C17 aircraft, has taken off from Edinburgh airport.
The coffin of the Queen arrives at Edinburgh airport
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth ll has arrived at Edinburgh airport.
The Queen's daughter, Princess Anne, will also be travelling on the flight.
What time will the flight take off?
RAF Northolt usually takes 55 minutes and arrival time is set to be around 7pm in London.
