Deadline for confirming attendance at Queen Elizabeth II's funeral arrives as Leeds pays further tributes - live updates

There will be no bin collections on Monday September 19 in Leeds, as a mark of respect while the Queen’s funeral takes place.

All collections on the week commencing Monday 19 will take place a day later than normal, with usual service resuming on Monday 26.

Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Robert W Gettings MBE JP, will be chairing the special council meeting and said: “I am humbled to have the opportunity to play my part in an occasion that will give thanks from Leeds for our late Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II, and her seven decades of dutiful and selfless service.

“The Queen visited our city many times during her remarkable reign, delighting and inspiring in equal measure the crowds who always turned out to see and greet her.

“To be able to pay tribute to her life and achievements, and to do so in the historic surroundings of a building such as the Civic Hall, will be an honour for all those involved.”

Image: Steve Riding

On the day of the Queen’s lying-in-state, a special meeting of Leeds City Council has been planned.

It will be held at Leeds Civic Hall at 1pm and will be chaired by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Robert W Gettings MBE JP.

The meeting will enable councillors to share their thoughts on the Queen’s death, reflect on her service to the nation and extend sympathies to the Royal Family.

Members of the public can attend and it will also be available to watch live online.

The Queen’s lying-in-state will begin in Westminster Hall later today.

The ceremonial procession of the coffin to Westminster Hall will travel via Queen’s Gardens, The Mall, Horse Guards and Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Street, Parliament Square and New Palace Yard.

Members of the public can watch the procession at the ceremonial viewing areas along the processional route, or at a screening site in Hyde Park which will open at 11am.

The Queen’s lying-in-state - Operation Marquee - will last four full days. Those wishing to pay their respects will be able to file solemnly past 24 hours a day until 6.30am on the day of the funeral - Monday September 19.

The Queen’s closed coffin will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, in the ancient Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster, draped in the Royal Standard with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top.

Delays to public transport and road closures around the area are expected and people are being urged to check ahead and plan accordingly. The queue is expected to be very long.

The Queen’s coffin will be guarded around the clock by a vigil of units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division, or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.

Rain poured as the Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft carrying the Queen’s coffin touched down at RAF Northolt below dark skies.

The Princess Royal, her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, and the Lord Chamberlain disembarked the plane.

They walked in silence to join the Reception Party, including Prime Minister Liz Truss, on the airfield.

The coffin was then transferred into the official hearse, which has slowly begun its departure from RAF Northolt.

A wreath of white flowers could be seen on top of the coffin.

Uniformed military officers flanking the Princess Royal saluted the hearse as it passed them on the airfield.

The King has arrived at Buckingham Palace after returning from Northern Ireland.

The crowds erupted in cheers and applause as his motorcade of five motorbikes and three drove into the palace gates.

Charles could be seen waving as he sat next to the Queen Consort in the car.

He had earlier pledged to "seek the welfare" of all Northern Ireland's people and described how his family have felt their "sorrows" as the Queen's peacebuilding efforts were praised.

The plane carrying the Queen's coffin has taken off from Edinburgh Airport and is travelling to RAF Northolt in London.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Scottish Secretary Alister Jack were at the airport as the coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II was carried on to the RAF plane.

Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone and Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone were also amongst the dignitaries present.

The website flightradar24.com appeared to run into difficulty around the time the plane carrying the Queen’s coffin took off from Edinburgh Airport.

In a livestream on YouTube titled Tracking Queen Elizabeth II‘s Final Flight on Flightradar24, a message read: “We are currently experiencing extremely heavy load and are working to bring the service back as soon as possible.

“Before take off more than 600k users were following the flight.”

The official account of the Royal Family has shared the poem written in memory of The Queen by the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage:

Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, Lidl and Asda have become the latest retailers to confirm they will shut stores next Monday for the Queen’s funeral.

It comes after a raft of supermarkets and high street chains already confirmed closure plans for the day.

Morrisons said all its UK supermarkets will shut on Monday September 19, which will be a bank holiday as the Queen’s state funeral takes place.

Lidl confirmed on Tuesday that it will also shut all its stores for the day.

Another retail competitor, the Co-op, has also announced that its estate of stores will shut their doors.

M&S said it will close stores and also halt deliveries to customers as it allows employees to pay their respects.

Chief executive Stuart Machin said there will be “limited exceptions in London and Windsor“, where M&S will serve customers paying their respects to the Queen.

These stores will be shut during the funeral itself, the retailer highlighted.

Franchise stores at travel locations and in public service sites, such as hospitals, are expected to remain open on Monday.

Asda said it will shut all its stores until 5pm on the day to allow employees to watch the funeral and it will not be offering any online deliveries.

Elsewhere, other retailers such as Currys and Toolstation also said they would shut their hundreds of stores.

It comes a day after Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Aldi all confirmed they would shut their supermarket stores for the day of the funeral, with fashion retailers such as Primark also confirming closure plans.

Retailers are not required to shut their doors on the day of the funeral, and others may choose to open for reduced hours, as many regularly do on other bank holidays.

The Government guidance is: “Some businesses may wish to consider closing or postponing events, especially on the day of the state funeral, however, this is at the discretion of individual businesses.”

The Queen’s House at the Tower of London has been renamed the King’s House following the proclamation of King Charles III.

His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London announced on Twitter that the change had been made, sharing a video of a painter amending the building’s name.