IN PICTURES: Nation united in silence ahead of its last farewell from London to Fermanagh – with another period of silence due this morning.

From the door of No 10 to the far reaches of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, the same scenes were repeated – mute tributes to a 96-year-old monarch whose period of lying-in-state ended at 6.30am today.

Her funeral has widely been anticipated to be one of the most watched events in human history.

Proceedings are to begin at 10.44am, when the coffin will be moved from the Palace of Westminster to nearby Westminster Abbey for an 11am service in front of some 2,000 guests, including public figures from Northern Ireland.

This will be followed by another period of silence nationwide at 11.55am – lasting two minutes – before her body is borne to Windsor on the western edge of London.

Among the mourners gathered in Royal Hillsborough last night was Marky Pritchard, a Royal Irish Regiment soldier, who is set to visit London this morning.

“When I was 16 I swore an oath to the lady, and I meant every word of it,” he said.

“She’s the commander in chief, commander in chief then, and the commander in chief of my heart now, and always will be.”

At 11.55am, there is to be another period of silence nation-wide, this time lasting two minutes.