Queen Elizabeth’s coffin arrived in Edinburgh after a six-hour drive from her summer home in the Scottish Highlands, faced with tens of thousands of mourners along the way, many in gloomy silence, some cheering and others in tears.
Shortly after 10am on Sunday, a hearse carrying Elizabeth’s oak coffin rolled out of the gates of Balmoral Castle, where she died Thursday at the age of 96, at the start of a slow journey to the Scottish capital. .
The coffin was draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland with a crown of Balmoral Estate flowers on it, including sweet peas, a favorite of Elizabeth.
The crowd, about 15 seats deep, gathered in central Edinburgh to greet the procession, which included the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, as they made their way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse where he was greeted by a military honor guard.
Soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland then carried the coffin to the palace’s throne room where it will spend the night.
“There was no way I was missing this. I would regret it for the rest of my life, ”said Eilidh Mackintosh, 62, who left her home at 6am to ensure she had a good view of Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile, where a large crowd gathered.
“She never let us down and I didn’t want to let her down either. Now that she’s gone, there’s a big hole in the heart of the nation.
The trip from Balmoral was the first in a series of events leading up to the state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on 19 September.
In a moving tribute to his mother on Friday, the new monarch King Charles said he embarked on a “last great journey” to join Prince Philip, her 73-year-old husband who died last year.
His death brought tears, sadness and warm tributes, not only from the Queen’s close family and many people in the UK, but also from around the world, reflecting her presence on the world stage for seven decades.
Wherever the procession went as it wound its way through landscaped landscapes, villages, small towns and cities, people lined the road or stopped cars to get off and watch.
At one point he passed an honor guard made up of dozens of tractors deployed in the adjacent fields by the farmers.
Many watched silently under the bright sun.
Some have thrown flowers on the street.
For others, the emotion of the moment moved them to tears.
“It’s just very, very sad. I am happy to be here to say goodbye, “said Elizabeth Alexander, 69, born on the day of the Queen’s coronation in 1953.
Thousands of people continue to congregate at other royal palaces across the UK and large piles of flowers are piling up as people visit to pay their respects.
Charles became king soon after his mother’s death and was officially proclaimed the new monarch with a ceremony on Saturday, full of pageantry and centuries-old traditions.
Similar proclamations follow across the UK and the 14 other kingdoms of which Charles is now head of state, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Parliament will be called back on Thursday to allow MPs to pay their respects.
The queen ascended the throne after the death of her father, King George VI, on February 6, 1952, when she was just 25 years old.
His coronation took place a year later.
Elizabeth’s funeral day will be a public holiday in the UK, officials announced.
Before that, her coffin will be flown to London and there will be a grim procession as she is moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where she will remain in the state for four days.
“Needless to say, we can expect a lot of people,” a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Liz Truss told reporters.
Truss, whose appointment as prime minister on Tuesday was the queen’s last public act, will join King Charles as the new head of state and prime minister touring the UK’s four nations in the coming days.