Approximately 2000 guests will be in attendance at the funeral. Photo / AP
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II is set to commence today.
The event will be attended by more than 2000 official guests, including many heads of state from around the world.
The eyes of the commonwealth will be fixed on a historic moment as the longest-serving monarch in British history is laid to rest.
For a bonus episode of the Front Page podcast, NZ Herald reporter Beth Reitsma gives us a rundown of what to expect from the event.
The Queen's funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey at 11am BST on Monday September 19 - 10pm NZT.
Everything will start at about 9.45pm NZT. A procession will see the coffin carried from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey. That will be followed by King and the rest of the Royals. The actual service starts at 10pm New Zealand time. The service will only last for about an hour. We'll have the sermon, the prayers and the Last Post will be played. There will then be about two minutes of silence observed across the UK at midday (11pm NZT).
The funeral will be broadcast on UK national television and will be streamed on the NZ Herald website, which will have up-to-the-minute live coverage beginning at 9.30pm on Monday.
The funeral service itself will be held at Westminster Abbey, the historic church where Britain's kings and queens are traditionally crowned. Elizabeth was crowned there in 1953, and it was also there that she married Prince Philip in 1947.
Westminster Abbey can hold about 2000 people. The event will be attended by the Queen's children, grandchildren and spouses of close family. Her cousins the Duke of Kent, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Princess Alexandra and Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, are also expected to attend, as are her close staff.
The guest list also includes foreign royals and political leaders from across the world.
Holders of the Victoria and George Cross are also invited.
Following the service, the Queen's coffin will be drawn in a walking procession from Westminster to Wellington Arch, at Hyde Park Corner in London, before travelling to Windsor via a hearse.
King Charles and other senior royals are expected to join the procession at the Quadrangle in Windsor Castle before the Queen's final journey ends at St George's Chapel.
At a committal service there, the casket will be lowered into the Royal Vault and interred in the King George VI memorial chapel inside St George's Chapel.
The Queen will be laid to rest alongside her mother and her husband Prince Philip, who are also buried in the memorial chapel.
• The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.
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