Members of the Royal Family have started to visit St James's Palace in London to pay their private respects at the Queen Mother's coffin.

The coffin was placed in the Queen's Chapel on Tuesday after being driven from Windsor.

More than 1,000 onlookers stood by as six pall bearers carried it into the palace, and a short prayer service was led by the Dean of the Chapels Royal, the Bishop of London.

The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester later visited to pay their respects.

Mourners

The Queen Mother's coffin will remain at the chapel until Friday, when a ceremonial procession involving 1,700 servicemen and women will see it taken the mile to Westminster Hall, where it will lie in state.

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The coffin left the Royal Chapel in Windsor, where it has been since the Queen Mother's death on Saturday, at around 1200 BST (1100GMT) in a hearse which carried it along the A4 and through west London.

Accompanied by police outriders, it passed by Hyde Park, Constitution Hill, travelled along the Mall and past Buckingham Palace.

Mourners lined the route in the city, some silently bowing their heads or crossing themselves and others applauding as the cortege passed.

Members of the Queen Mother's staff at Royal Lodge accompanied the coffin from the chapel, led by the Queen's Piper Jim Motherwell in acknowledgement of the Queen Mother's Scottish roots.

At Buckingham Palace members of the public joined staff from the royal households to catch a glimpse of the coffin en route to St James's Palace.

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On Friday the coffin will be moved to Westminster Hall on a gun carriage drawn by the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery.

The funeral is currently planned to be a Royal ceremonial funeral, with protocol dictating that state funerals are reserved for heads of state.

But Parliament and the prime minister could still award the accolade to the Queen Mother.

Grandsons' vigil

Already, there will be a break from tradition when the Princess Royal walks in procession behind the coffin.

BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said that the crown used for the Queen Mother's Coronation would be brought from the Tower of London to rest on top of the coffin.

It has also been reported that the Queen Mother's four grandsons - the Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Earl of Wessex and Lord Linley - may stand vigil over the coffin at St James's Palace on Thursday night.

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Prince Charles is understood to have requested to accompany the Queen Mother's coffin after the funeral on its journey to her final resting place in Windsor.

He has also cancelled all his official engagements until after the funeral, St James's Palace announced on Tuesday.

The public will be able to pay their respects when the coffin is lying-in-state at Westminster Hall on 5 April (1400 to 1800 BST), and from 6 to 8 April (0800 to 1800 BST).

Most senior members of the Royal Family have been staying at Windsor Castle, but they may move to Buckingham Palace later on Tuesday.

The Queen is said to be coping "stoically".