Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II made her final journey on Sunday with thousands of her grieving subjects who are expected to follow the route of her coffin from her Scottish castle of Balmoral where she died.
The solemn departure of the Queen’s oak coffin from Balmoral Castle for Edinburgh marks the start of an odyssey of national mourning which will culminate with her state funeral in London on September 19. His journey begins a day after his son Charles III was officially proclaimed king, and after his grandsons William and Harry, and their wives Kate and Meghan, briefly met for a walk.
A hearse carrying the coffin of Britain’s oldest monarch will make a six-hour journey through Scottish cities before arriving in Edinburgh, where it will rest for two days so people can pay their respects. The King himself will then travel to Edinburgh on Monday for a prayer service, before the body of the Queen, who died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96, is flown to the capital on Tuesday . She will then lay in state for four days in an event expected to attract at least a million people, before a funeral set to be watched around the world and attract many heads of state.
While Charles’ accession pushed Britain into what newspapers called the new “Carolean” era, Britain and the Royal Family are still coming to terms with the end of the Elizabethan era. Prince William broke his silence with a moving tribute to his beloved “grandmother” on Saturday. “She was by my side in my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life,” said William, who has now become the Prince of Wales.
But the Queen’s death also brought a surprise show of unity from William, 40, and his younger brother Harry, 37, as they stepped out with their wives to speak to well-wishers at the exterior of Windsor Castle, near London. Members of the Royal Family, including the Queen’s children Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Edward and their families, also inspected flowers outside Balmoral, where they have remained since the Queen’s death .
A solemn journey of four days
The Queen’s coffin, draped with a Scottish royal standard and wreath, was kept in Balmoral’s ballroom and will be carried to her hearse by six estate gamekeepers. The symbolism of the Queen’s final journey will be heavy for a nation that has strong royal ties – but where there is a strong Scottish independence movement determined to break the centuries-old union with the UK.
The procession left at 10:00 a.m. (09:00 GMT) then passed through Aberdeen and Dundee before reaching Edinburgh at 4:00 p.m. The Queen’s coffin will be taken to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarch’s official residence in Scotland, where it will rest for a day. King Charles and other members of the Royal Family will take part in a procession on Monday to carry his coffin along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to St Giles Cathedral. The following day, the coffin will be flown by Royal Air Force jet to Northolt airfield near London and taken to Buckingham Palace. Then on Wednesday it will be moved to Westminster Hall to lie in state.
King Charles will also visit Northern Ireland and Wales in a show of national unity, accompanied by British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was only named by the late Queen on Tuesday. He has seen his popularity rebound since the death of Diana in a car accident in 1997, but he takes the throne at a time of deep anxiety in Britain over the skyrocketing cost of living and the international instability caused by the war in Ukraine.
Thousands of people have gathered outside Buckingham Palace and other royal residences in recent days to lay flowers and messages of condolence, or simply to hear about the history in the making.