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Queen’s final journey to Windsor extended so thousands more can see her pass by and say farewell

PALACE officials yesterday extended the route of the Queen’s final journey – to enable more people to bid her farewell.

Instead of taking the motorway to her resting place in Windsor Castle, she will follow A-roads.

Last night the exact course was revealed, allowing tens of thousands of well-wishers to choose a spot along the route.

They will be able to catch a last glimpse of Her Majesty between 1pm and 3pm, after the service at Westminster Abbey.

First the Queen’s coffin will be borne by an extraordinary procession of the State Gun Carriage through London to Wellington Arch, where it will be transferred to the State Hearse at 1pm. Other members of the Royal Family will then travel along the M4 to Windsor, where a second ceremony will be held at St George’s Chapel.

But if the former monarch had been driven via the motorway, mourners wanting to say their goodbyes would have been unable to line the route.

The Daily Mail’s Robert Hardman was among those saying earlier this week that the postfuneral route should be extended so more Britons could say farewell. Now the palace has disclosed the route. From Wellington Arch, it will go along the south side of Hyde Park via South Carriage Drive before turning down Queens Gate, and then along Cromwell Road.

The cortege will follow the A4 through west London, going along Talgarth Road via the Hammersmith Flyover, and along the Great West Road.

Just before Heathrow, the hearse will switch to the A30 Great South West Road, and travel around the south side of the airport.

It will process along London Road, still the A30, and Staines Road, before crossing the M25 to Windsor Road (the A308) for the final leg to Windsor along a countryside stretch of the River Thames.

The route will take the Queen’s coffin through 25 miles of London streets and villages in Surrey and Berkshire. Last night a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The route to Windsor is planned with the public in mind.’

The news confirms suggestions that the Queen’s coffin would not travel on the M4, which would have been the quickest route, giving thousands more Britons the chance to pay their last respects as her coffin passes.

Travelling along A-roads west out of London to Berkshire means it will be easier for mourners to line up along the road.