Queen Elizabeth II's coffin returns to London
Grey skies and rain greeted Queen Elizabeth II's coffin as it was taken to Buckingham Palace after arriving in London on a military transport plane, before Britain said a final farewell to its longest-serving monarch.
The giant C-17 Globemaster, using the callsign "Kittyhawk" to signal the queen's presence on board, touched down from Edinburgh at Royal Air Force base Northolt.
The late monarch's heavy lead-lined oak coffin, draped in the royal standard, was transferred slowly by eight RAF pallbearers into a waiting state hearse for the journey back to Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth II died last Thursday aged 96 at her Balmoral retreat in the Scottish Highlands, after almost a year of ill-health that saw her gradually retreat from public view.
Her body was brought first to the monarch's official residence in Scotland, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh on Sunday, then transferred to St Giles' Cathedral in the city on Monday.
The Scottish government said some 33,000 people filed past her coffin overnight, before it was taken to the airport.
Outside St Giles' Cathedral, the Royal Company of Archers, the monarch's bodyguard in Scotland, formed a guard of honour as the coffin emerged to the haunting sound of a lone piper.
At Edinburgh Airport, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, in ceremonial kilts, also formed a guard of honour to the woman dubbed "Queen of Scots", and the national anthem played as the plane taxied to the runway.
