Queen Elizabeth’s coffin arrived in Edinburgh yesterday, after a six-and-a-half-hour journey from her summer home in the Scottish Highlands, past tens of thousands of mourners lining the route, many in sombre silence, some applauding and others in tears.
At the end of its slow journey through picturesque Scottish countryside, villages, small towns and cities, soldiers wearing kilts carried the coffin to the throne room of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Elizabeth’s official Scottish residence, where it will remain overnight.
In an emotional tribute to his mother on Friday, the queen’s eldest son and the new monarch, King Charles, said she had begun a “last great journey” to join Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years who died last year.
Earlier, the hearse carrying the oak coffin emerged from the gates of Balmoral Castle, where she died on Thursday aged 96, at the start of the drive to the Scottish capital, according to Reuters.
Her coffin was draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath on top made of flowers taken from the Balmoral estate including sweet peas, one of Elizabeth’s favourites.
Crowds, fifteen deep in places, massed in the centre of Edinburgh to greet the cortege as it made its way to Holyroodhouse, where it was met by a military guard of honour.
The queen’s daughter Anne, flanked by the queen’s younger sons, Princes Andrew and Edward, curtsied as the coffin was carried inside by soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland.
“There was no way I could miss this. I would regret it for the rest of my life,” Reuters quoted Eilidh Mackintosh, 62, who left her home at 6 a.m. to be sure of a good view among the large crowds on Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile, to have said.
Rachel Lindsay, 24, was left in tears as the coffin passed. “It’s just very sad,” she said. “I don’t think we expected it to ever happen. I just thought she’d live forever. I didn’t think it was real until I saw it.”
The journey from Balmoral was the first of a series of events leading up to the state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on September 19.
Her death has drawn tears, sadness and warm tributes, not just from the queen’s own close family and many in Britain, but also from around the globe – reflecting her presence on the world stage for seven decades.
Wherever the cortege went, people lined the road or stopped their cars to get out and watch. At one point, it passed a guard of honour formed by dozens of tractors lined up in adjacent fields by farmers.
Many watched silently in bright sunshine. Some threw flowers into the road. For others, the emotion of the moment moved them to tears. Many thousands are continuing to gather at the royal palaces across Britain, bringing bouquet after bouquet of flowers. In Green Park near London’s Buckingham Palace, where some of the tributes were being taken, long lines of bouquets snake around the park allowing mourners to read the tributes.
Other well-wishers have attached their messages of condolence to trees.
Charles became king immediately after his mother’s death and was officially proclaimed the new monarch at a ceremony on Saturday, full of pageantry and centuries-old traditions. read more
Similar proclamations are following across the United Kingdom and the other 14 realms of which Charles is now head of state, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. read more
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said parliament would be recalled on Thursday to allow members to pay tribute.
The queen came to the throne following the death of her father King George VI on February 6, 1952, when she was just 25. Her coronation took place a year later. While Elizabeth’s death was not totally unexpected given her age and deteriorating health, there was still a sense of shock at the news.
The highly-choreographed mourning plans will continue on Monday. Charles would join the other senior royals in Edinburgh when the coffin would be taken in a procession from Holyroodhouse to the city’s St Giles Cathedral for a service.
There it would remain for 24 hours to allow people to pay their last respects and the new king and members of the royal family will also hold a vigil.
The day of the queen’s funeral would be a public holiday in Britain, officials have announced. U.S. President Joe Biden said he would be there, although full details of the event and the attendees have not yet been released.
Before that, her coffin would be flown to London and there would be a sombre procession when it is later moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall to lie in state for four days.
“It goes without saying that we can expect large numbers of people,” a spokesperson for Prime Minister Liz Truss told reporters.
Truss, whose appointment as prime minister on Tuesday was the queen’s last public act, would join King Charles as both the new head of state and prime minister tour the four nations of the United Kingdom in the next few days. read more
Charles, 73, is now the 41st monarch in a line that traces its origins to the Norman King William the Conqueror who captured the English throne in 1066.