Queen Elizabeth II is lying in state before her funeral in what will be one of the UK's largest public events.
The monarch's coffin has been taken to Westminster Hall and up to a million mourners are expected to file past to pay their respects following her death last week in Balmoral, Scotland.
The Queen Mother was the last member of the royal family to lie in state, following her death in 2002 at the age of 101.
She was highly regarded by the British public and large crowds gathered for her funeral, which took place at Westminster Abbey.
Only the most revered figures in British public life lie in state, including Princess Diana and former prime minister Winston Churchill.
Traditions of the monarchy date back centuries and these images show the subtle differences between the ceremonies.
Procession down The Mall
The coffins of Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother were brought to Westminster Hall along The Mall, a stretch of road that leads to Buckingham Palace and is used for many royal occasions, such as Trooping the Colour.
More than 200,000 people are believed to have travelled to London to participate in the Queen Mother's funeral and lying in state, which lasted for three days. Spectators were perhaps afforded a better view of the procession with the branches of the trees largely bare at the time.
Turning into Horse Guards from the Mall
The picture on the right shows the length of The Mall draped in Union flags, perhaps showing the level of planning that has gone into the organisation of the queen's funeral, code-named Operation London Bridge.
The first image shows a young Prince Harry and Prince William travelling behind their great-grandmother's coffin. Neither had served in the military at that time and wore more traditional funeral attire.
Also missing from the image on the right is the queen's husband Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, who died in 2021.
Queen and Queen Mother on the catafalque
The coffins of the queen and her mother were placed on the catafalque in Westminster Hall and guarded at all hours by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.
The Royal Standard was draped on both, although the monarch's version differs slightly with two quarters representing England, while the quarter representing Wales is omitted.
Public mourners gather
Up to a million mourners are expected to file through Westminster Hall to see the queen lying in state, providing organisers with a major logistical and security challenge.
Queues up to eight kilometres long are likely to form along the banks of the Thames and could result in waiting times of more than 12 hours.
The queen's coffin will be shown until 6.30am UK time on Monday, when it will be taken to Westminster Abbey for the funeral.
Visible in both pictures are the Imperial State Crown, the symbol of the queen's sovereignty, and the monarch's orb and sceptre, which traditionally represents that the authority of the monarchy is derived from God.
Politicians in attendance
The political landscape of the UK has shifted significantly in the past two decades, as the picture below shows.
In 2002, the UK was lead by prime minister Tony Blair, who came to power five years earlier and lasted in the role until 2007.
He was accompanied at the Queen Mother's lying in state by Sir Ian Duncan Smith, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party. Also in attendance were former foreign secretary Jack Straw, Mr Blair's chancellor and successor, Gordon Brown, and the former first minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Trimble.
In the other image, Prime Minister Liz Truss can be seen alongside Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer paying their respects to the queen. In the background you can make out former home secretary Priti Patel and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
How much sugar is in chocolate Easter eggs?
- The 169g Crunchie egg has 15.9g of sugar per 25g serving, working out at around 107g of sugar per egg
- The 190g Maltesers Teasers egg contains 58g of sugar per 100g for the egg and 19.6g of sugar in each of the two Teasers bars that come with it
- The 188g Smarties egg has 113g of sugar per egg and 22.8g in the tube of Smarties it contains
- The Milky Bar white chocolate Egg Hunt Pack contains eight eggs at 7.7g of sugar per egg
- The Cadbury Creme Egg contains 26g of sugar per 40g egg
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Tell Me Who I Am
Director: Ed Perkins
Stars: Alex and Marcus Lewis
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Stage results
1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
10. Geraint Thomas (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers s.t
Results
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