The Dutch royal family on Wednesday saluted the hearse carrying the remains of former Queen Juliana as it left her countryside home for The Hague, where she will lie in state until her funeral.

Queen Beatrix and her three sisters, princesses Irene, Margriet and Christina, accompanied the hearse in a black limousine, following behind on the 80 kilometre (48 mile) route to The Hague.

Juliana's widower, the German-born Prince Bernhard, did not attend.

A palace spokesman said earlier the prince was ill and may also be unable to attend the funeral on March 30.

Juliana and Bernhard were married for 67 years and have 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, many of whom gathered on the steps of Soestdijk Palace as the hearse departed for The Hague.

Hundreds of neighbours and admirers lined the roads surrounding the palace, southeast of Amsterdam, where Juliana lived for 76 years until she died of a lung infection on Saturday at the age of 94.

Thousands more mourners watched as the black hearse entered the cobbled courtyard of the Noordeinde Palace in the centre of The Hague near the parliament building.

There, the flag-draped coffin was borne into the "Chapel of Grieving", where the popular former monarch will lie in state until her funeral.

In the chapel at Noordeinde, the coffin will be attended by ceremonial guards until it is taken in a horse-drawn carriage covered in purple and crowned with white plumes to the 400-year-old family crypt in the city of Delft.

Later on Wednesday, Dutch politicians and dignitaries were to pay their respects before the coffin and the public would be allowed to visit the coffin Thursday through Sunday.

Juliana reigned for 32 years until she abdicated in favour of her daughter, Queen Beatrix, in 1980 and took the title Princess Juliana.

Remembered for bringing the monarchy closer to the people through her informal ways, Juliana oversaw the rebuilding of the Netherlands after World War II and presided over the dismantling of most of its colonial empire.