Young princes to follow coffin

Prince William and Prince Harry will walk behind the Queen Mother's coffin in tomorrow's procession - a repeat of their harrowing experience at their mother's funeral.

The move is bound to evoke memories of the emotioncharged funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, watched by silent crowds lining the streets and millions on television.

The two teenagers will walk alongside their father, the Prince of Wales, and their uncles the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex.

In a break with tradition - which restricts women from taking part in the procession - the Princess Royal will join her nephews and nine other senior members of the royal family and the Queen Mother's family, in the sombre procession from St James's Palace to Westminster Hall.

A senior Buckingham Palace source said: "Both princes made it clear that they wanted to honour their great grandmother by joining other senior members of the royal family in the procession. They adored Her Majesty the Queen Mother and consider it their duty and a mark of their love and respect for her."

The Princess Royal, who has been a constant companion for the Queen at Windsor since the death of the Queen Mother, who died on Saturday aged 101, also insisted on taking part in the procession.

She asked her mother for special permission to break with protocol and the Queen agreed she should take part. The Queen will be driven from Buckingham Palace over the processional route.

The gun carriage that will carry the Queen Mother's coffin was drawn through Westminster today in a fullscale rehearsal of tomorrow's ceremonial procession.

A mock coffin, draped in a Union Flag and topped by a marble plinth to represent her crown, was escorted by 1,600 service personnel including some of Britain's most senior military figures.

As Big Ben chimed 6am the gun carriage, drawn by six horses from the King's Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery, left the Queen's Chapel at St James's Palace. To the sounds of the funeral march, and a muffled drum, detachments of the Army, Navy and Air Force marched slowly into The Mall where Grenadier Guardsmen lined the route through Horse Guards into Whitehall and into Westminster Hall where the Queen Mother will lie in state from tomorrow afternoon until Monday.

Roads around Buckingham Palace, St James's, Whitehall and Parliament Square were closed from shortly after 3am as police and military units moved into place.

It took 29 minutes for the mock procession to march slowly from St James's Palace to New Palace Yard.

Among the military detachments were units from regiments with which the Queen Mother had a close association, including the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment). She was the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief for more than 60 years.

Bands from the Royal Artillery, the Royal Marines and Guards regiments played as the procession made its way to Westminster Hall, with a detachment of dismounted soldiers of the Household Cavalry bringing up the rear.

The Queen Mother's coffin will be draped with her personal standard, one half of which bears the colours of her late husband King George VI, burgundy, yellow and blue. The other is the banner of the Bowes Lyon family in blue and brown on a white background.

The coffin will be carried onto a catafalque in Westminster Hall. Members of the public will be allowed to pay their respects from 2pm to 6pm tomorrow, and on Saturday, Sunday and Monday from 8am to 6pm.

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