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PA Staff & Aaron Morris

Queen’s coffin expected to lie in rest at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh after death aged 96

People will be able to pay their respects to the Queen as the monarch’s coffin is expected to lie in rest for 24 hours at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

It is expected that members of the public will be allowed in to the church to file past the coffin when it resides there in about three days’ time.

The historic cathedral is situated on the city’s Royal Mile, halfway between Edinburgh Castle and the Palace of Holyrood House.

Read more: When is the Queen's funeral, and what will happen during the ceremony?

The PA News Agency reports that after news of the Queen’ s death was announced on Thursday, Reverend Calum MacLeod, minister of the cathedral, paid tribute to such a 'strong and faithful servant'.

In a message on the cathedral’s website, he said: “With the whole nation, we at St. Giles’ Cathedral mourn the death of HM The Queen, strong and faithful servant to the UK and Commonwealth for so many years. We send our heartfelt condolences to the Royal Family.”

Members of the Royal Family will be expected in the coming days to hold a poignant vigil around the Queen’s coffin in St Giles. A service will be held in the cathedral and the Queen’s children are expected to stage a vigil around the Queen’s coffin – known as the Vigil of the Princes – while it lies in there.

The cathedral was founded in about 1124, either by King Alexander I, who died that year, or by his brother King David I, who succeeded him, according to the official website. St Giles, a popular medieval saint, is patron saint of lepers, nursing mothers and the lame.

In 1985, a stained-glass window was installed above the entrance way, as a memorial to famous Scot Robert Burns. Other features include The Holy Table, which was dedicated at a Service of Thanksgiving in 2011, in the presence of The Princess Royal.

The Queen's body will then be carried from Sandringham via a royal train to the central London station, before the procession of the coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey takes place three days later - this is where Her Majesty will lie in state for a further three days.

Her coffin will lie on a raised box known as the catafalque in the middle of Westminster hall, open to the public for 23 hours a day. The funeral itself will be held in Westminster Abbey in 10 days' time - with processions taking place in London and Windsor.

You can leave a tribute for the Queen in our online condolence book.

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