Preparations made for Princess' funeral

Princess Margaret's coffin has arrived at St James' Palace as preprations continue for her funeral on Friday.

Earlier The Queen's Pipe Major, James Motherwell and a colleague, played a lament, the Skye Boats Song, as they marched solemnly ahead of the car as the Princess left Kensington Palace, her official residence, for the last time.

Wearing red tartan kilt the pipers led the hearse along the dimly lit private lane linking the Palace with a Kensington High Street that was bustling with commuters.

At the junction, they stood aside and saluted smartly as the coffin, draped in Margaret's personal standard, swept past.

White lilies and roses surrounded her coffin.

As the hearse turned on to the main road and disappeared into the rush hour traffic, Pipe Major Motherwell, of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's) and his fellow piper performed an about-turn and marched back towards the Palace.

Later a small crowd had gathered outside the 17th-century Chapel opposite St James's Palace.

The coffin will remain at the Chapel until Thursday when it will be taken by road to St George's Chapel, Windsor, for the Princess's funeral on Friday afternoon.