The Latest: House Speaker Ryan visits Nancy Reagan’s casket

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – The Latest on the death of Nancy Reagan (all times local):

12:15 p.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan has paid his respects to the late former first lady Nancy Reagan after the arrival of her casket at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Ryan approached the casket Wednesday, bowed his head in prayer and made the sign of the cross before leaving.

Earlier, a motorcade brought the casket to the library from a funeral home in Santa Monica after a brief service attended by about 20 members of Nancy Reagan’s family and close friends.

The public will be allowed to file past the casket Wednesday afternoon and Thursday.

Only invited guests will attend Friday’s funeral. Ryan’s office says he cannot attend due to schedule conflicts.

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11:20 a.m.

Members of the armed services have carried Nancy Reagan’s casket into her late husband’s presidential library in Simi Valley, California.

Prayers are being offered in a private ceremony.

The public will be allowed to pay respects Wednesday afternoon and on Thursday before Friday’s funeral, which will be closed to the public.

Earlier, people watched from freeway overpasses as a motorcade carried the casket from a funeral home in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica to the Ronald Reagan Presidential.

Spectators also lined the road leading to the hilltop library. Some held up flags or stood with hands over their hearts.

Nancy Reagan died Sunday at her Los Angeles home. She was 94.

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11:10 a.m.

A motorcade carrying former first lady Nancy Reagan’s casket has reached the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.

Hundreds of people watched Wednesday along the road leading to the library in hill country northwest of Los Angeles.

The public will be allowed to pay respects Wednesday afternoon and Thursday before Friday’s funeral.

Earlier, family and close friends attended a brief service at a Santa Monica mortuary before beginning her final journey. Nancy Reagan died Sunday at her Los Angeles home. She was 94.

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10:45 a.m.

A motorcade carrying Nancy Reagan’s casket to her late husband’s presidential library northwest of Los Angeles has turned onto the Ronald Reagan Freeway, a state route named in his honour in the 1990s.

The California Highway Patrol is running a rolling closure of freeway onramps on Wednesday as the hearse and other vehicles in the procession head from a mortuary in Santa Monica to the library in Simi Valley.

Earlier, about 20 members of the former first lady’s family and close friends attended a brief, private service at the funeral home as several hundred onlookers gathered on a nearby boulevard.

Nancy Reagan died Sunday at her Los Angeles home. She was 94.

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10:10 a.m.

A brief, private service attended by Nancy Reagan’s relatives has ended and her casket has been transferred from a Santa Monica, California, funeral home to a hearse for a motorcade to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

The motorcade has now begun the 45-mile drive to the library in hill country northwest of Los Angeles. The route includes a stretch of State Route 118, which has been named the Ronald Reagan Freeway since the 1990s.

The public will be allowed to pay respects Wednesday afternoon and Thursday before Friday’s funeral.

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9:30 a.m.

Nancy Reagan’s daughter, Patti Davis, has arrived for a brief service at a Santa Monica, California, mortuary before a motorcade takes her mother’s casket to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.

Other family members are expected for the Wednesday morning service conducted by the Rev. Stuart Kenworthy, vicar of Washington National Cathedral, who will also officiate at Friday’s funeral.

A few dozen onlookers have gathered outside, including several from Providence St. John’s Health Center across the street.

Medical assistant Jeanie Maurello remembered the former first lady as very classy and recalls her “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign.

After the motorcade reaches the presidential library, public viewing will begin at 1 p.m.

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6 a.m.

Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, Newt Gingrich, Wayne Newton and Mr. T will be among the mourners attending Friday’s funeral for Nancy Reagan.

Three days of solemn ceremonies for the former first lady begin Wednesday.

The Ronald Reagan Foundation says a private family service Wednesday morning will be conducted by The Rev. Stuart Kenworthy, vicar of Washington National Cathedral, who will also officiate the funeral.

Public viewings are scheduled at the presidential library from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.

Also attending Friday’s service will be Capt. Christopher Bolt, commanding officer of the USS Ronald Reagan.

Nancy Reagan will be laid to rest next to President Ronald Reagan on the grounds of the library.