The Earl and Countess of Wessex will visit Manchester today to view the tributes set up in various parts of the city in memory of the late Queen.
Prince Edward and Sophie are scheduled to arrive in Manchester in the late morning. They will first stop at the Central Library around 11.30am to sign the council’s book of condolence.
Regional leaders, including council leader Bev Craig, Lord Mayor of Manchester coun Donna Ludford and Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester Diane Hawkins, are expected to greet their Royal Highnesses at the Central Library.
The Royals will then head to St Ann’s Square where Mancunians have left floral tributes to the Queen. Bouquets have been arranged at the bottom of the statue of Richard Cobden, with three portraits of the Queen standing over the tributes.
Their Royal Highnesses will meet mourners and volunteers at the site, which has been monitored around the clock with some people working 12-hour shifts.
Their final stop is expected to be at Manchester Cathedral, where they will light a candle in memory of Queen Elizabeth.
Yesterday, the Earl of Wessex walked in line with his royal siblings – King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew – in the procession that accompanied The Queen from Buckingham to Westminster Palace.
There, the late Queen will lie in state until her funeral on 19 September.
Image: Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie, Countess of Wessex in Stockholm in 2013. Photo by Frankie Fouganthin
