Liverpool city centre stood virtually empty this morning ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Liverpool ONE and the surrounding streets that would usually be filled with shoppers and people on their way to work were deserted on Monday morning. It's the first time the city centre has been this quiet since the coronavirus lockdowns of 2020 and 2021.
Photos of Queen Elizabeth II lit up the windows of shops and restaurants across Liverpool, many of which will remain closed today as a mark of respect on what is a national bank holiday.
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Bouquets of flowers were left outside Liverpool Town Hall, where a book of condolences will reopen tomorrow, September 20.
Millions of people both here in the UK and around the world will watch the funeral service today, following four days of the late monarch lying in state, where mourners queued for hours to see the the Queen's coffin.
Mourners in Merseyside made an early morning journey to London this morning to be part of this moment in history, while others travelled up to the capital over the weekend.
Sarah Anson and her daughter Isla, 8, had an early start at Lime Street Station this morning so they could be part of the event. Sarah said: “We’re just going to go down and hopefully go to the viewing platform at Green Park.
"We’ve brought some flowers with us so we want to lay them and pay our respects to the Queen because we think she was amazing and we want to celebrate our life so we got up at half five to do it.”
Nine-year-old Autumn told the ECHO she was a "big fan" of the Queen and was looking forward to paying her respects today alongside her mum, Dee Wright.
Dee said: “It’s a moment in history. I’m taking my daughter who’s ten next month down because I think its important to pay our respects to the Queen.
"We’re planning to get to Hyde Park to the viewing platform. It was a last minute decision to come. We decided yesterday and we’re doing there and back in a day."
Merseyside will join the rest of the nation in taking part in a two minute's silence at 11:55am to pay tribute to the country's longest-serving monarch. We will be bringing you all the latest updates from the service in London and events across the Merseyside to mark the death of the UK's longest-ruling monarch in our live blog.
You can light a candle for Queen Elizabeth II here or leave a tribute to her here .
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