Nation prepares for final farewell

Mourners have camped out overnight

The final preparations are being made for the Queen Mother's funeral at Westminster Abbey on Tuesday.

	:	Funeral timetable
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As many as 200,000 people have solemnly filed past her coffin during her lying-in-state in Westminster Hall.

Thousands more will surround the abbey to hear loudspeakers relay the 50-minute service and see the beginning of her final journey to Windsor.

Around the UK, millions will observe two minutes' silence when the ceremony begins at 1130 BST.

Announcements will be made in train and bus stations to allow passengers to mark the start of the service.

Some shops, including Waitrose, Boots, Marks and Spencer, Next, Debenhams and John Lewis, are closing for part of the day in a mark of respect.

Attending the actual service will be 35 members of the British Royal Family, as well as 25 European royals and dignitaries from around the world.

Millions will silently remember the Queen Mother across the UK

UN secretary general Kofi Annan, US First Lady Laura Bush and King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain will be among those present.

Also on Tuesday, a special service will be held at St John's Scottish Epsicopal Church in Forfar, where the Queen Mother was confirmed 86 years ago.

The occasion will also be marked at Glamis Castle in Angus, where she spent much of her childhood, and Balmoral Castle.

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Thousands of mourners queued throughout Tuesday morning to pay their respects at her coffin, despite being told Westminster Hall would close at 0600 BST for funeral preparations to begin.

After standing in a silent vigil at her coffin earlier on Monday, the Prince of Wales slipped back into the hall late into the evening for 20 minutes to pay his personal respects to his beloved grandmother before the formality of the funeral.

More than 100 people camped outside the abbey on Monday night, reserving their spot for the funeral.

	Queen Mother's funeral As many as 200,000 have already paid their respects Tuesday's funeral will be attended by 2,100 guests The coffin will move to Westminster Abbey at 1118 BST for an ecumenical service  Find out more

Earlier, the Queen made a personal broadcast to the nation to thank the public for their "deeply moving" tributes to her mother.

Speaking at Windsor Castle, she said she hoped the funeral would be accompanied by a wider sense of thanksgiving for her mother's life.

Afterwards the service a procession to Windsor will begin with a fly-past tribute by two Spitfires and Britain's only remaining airworthy Lancaster bomber, as the cortege moves up The Mall.

The Queen Mother will finally be laid to rest on Tuesday evening at Windsor, alongside the body of her late husband King George VI and the ashes of her daughter Princess Margaret.