Queen To Visit Barracks Of Slain British Soldier

Queen Elizabeth II is set to visit the barracks that housed slain British soldier Lee Rigby on Friday, nine days after he was killed on a nearby street.

Her trip to the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich was scheduled before Rigby was killed on May 22. His death shocked the nation. 

The monarch will meet members of the King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery during the visit. The troop's duties include firing gun salutes on state occasions and royal anniversaries. 

Rigby, a military recruiter and ceremonial drummer, was only a couple of hundred yards away from the barracks when he was attacked in broad daylight. A makeshift memorial of flowers and tributes has swelled on the street outside the barracks in the days since his death.

The queen, who is the official commander-in-chief of the British armed forces, expressed "concern" over the soldier's killing last week. An inquest into Rigby's death opens Friday at Southwark Coroner's Court but is expected to be quickly adjourned. Inquests in the United Kingdom are held to examine sudden and unexplained deaths.

A post-mortem examination found that the soldier's cause of death was from "multiple incised wounds," police said this week.

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