Crowds gather for Queen Elizabeth II’s casket procession from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament

Crowds gather in London as they prepare for the gloomy procession that will carry Queen Elizabeth’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Houses of Parliament.

There, the deceased monarch will lie stateside for four days before his funeral next Monday.

Charles III arrives at the palace and waves to the crowd gathered at The Mall.

Large crowds are expected for Wednesday afternoon’s procession, and long lines are expected to see the coffin at Westminster Hall in the Houses of Parliament.

People are standing behind metal fences or sitting in folding chairs. Under gray skies hours before the coffin was scheduled to leave the monarch’s official residence in London, they are ready with umbrellas and take-out coffees in hand.

The coffin is loaded into a horse-drawn carriage past a crowd of mourners, followed by the Queen’s son and heir to the throne, Charles III, and other royals.

The Queen died in Scotland last Thursday at the age of 96, ending her 70-year reign.

Crowds line the aisles whenever the Queen’s coffin moves from Scotland to London on its way back.