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William and Harry to walk behind Queen's coffin to Westminster Hall

16:13 pm on 14 September 2022

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex on the long Walk at Windsor Castle on 10 September 2022, before meeting well-wishers. Photo: AFP

Prince William and Prince Harry will walk together behind the Queen's coffin in a procession in London on Thursday.

The brothers, along with the King, will follow the coffin on foot from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where the Queen will lie in state.

The procession will leave the palace at 1.22am NZT and is expected to arrive at Westminster Hall at 2am.

A service lasting about 20 minutes will then be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Prince William, far left, and Prince Harry, second right, also walked with their father, now King Charles III, at the funeral procession for their mother, Princess Diana, in 1997. Photo: AFP

The King's three siblings - Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward - will also walk in the procession.

Camilla, the Queen Consort, and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, will travel by car, as will Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex.

It comes after Prince William and Prince Harry, accompanied by their wives, appeared in front of crowds gathered outside Windsor Castle on Saturday.

The group arrived in the same car and spent around 40 minutes greeting mourners and looking at flowers left for their grandmother.

It was the first time the brothers had been seen alongside one another in public since the funeral of their grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, in April last year.

Both were at a service of thanksgiving in St Paul's Cathedral during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June, but sat on opposite sides of the cathedral.

The King spoke warmly of Harry and Meghan in his televised address to the nation on Friday evening.

After announcing that William and Kate would become Prince and Princess of Wales, he said: "I want also to express my love for Harry and Meghan as they continue to build their lives overseas."

In a tribute to the Queen released on Monday, Harry also said he wanted to "honour my father in his new role as King Charles III".

Mourners have already begun queueing to attend the Queen's lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.

It starts at 4am on Thursday and concludes at 5.30pm on Monday, the morning of the Queen's funeral.

Government guidance says the queue is expected to be very long, with people standing for "many hours, possibly overnight" and with very little opportunity to sit down.

*All times are in NZT

- BBC