Queen Elizabeth II Final Homage: To say goodbye to their longest-reigning queen, tens of thousands of people lined the route of Queen Elizabeth II‘s funeral cortege as it departed the Scottish retreat where she passed away on Sunday.
From the Balmoral estate, the hearse transported the 96-year-oak old’s casket covered with the Royal Standard of Scotland through Aberdeen and Dundee to Edinburgh, where the streets were thronged with well-wishers.
When the coffin arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, top royals greeted it, including the queen’s daughter Anne, who curtsied as it was carried inside. Some cheered, some sobbed, and then they all went silent.
Charles III to lead a Queen Elizabeth II Procession
The monarch’s formal palace in Scotland, Holyroodhouse, will hold Queen Elizabeth II coffin overnight. On Monday, Charles III will lead a procession of it to the neighbouring St Giles’ Cathedral.
It will be transported by air to London on Tuesday, where it will spend the next four days in state until the burial, which is scheduled for September 19 and is likely to draw millions of viewers from across the world.
“History is being made right now. We spent so much time with the queen—70 years—that “Stuart Mackay, a former soldier, exclaimed as he observed the cortege arrive.
It’s the only monarch we’ve ever known, so I feel obligated to be present to bid her farewell.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a “sad and poignant moment” to see the queen leave her cherished Balmoral refuge for the final time.
Charles — formally proclaimed monarch at a pomp-filled ceremony on Saturday in London — will take part in a family vigil on Monday evening over the coffin at St Giles’.
He will also have his first audience with Sturgeon, before flying with his wife Camilla, Queen Consort, on Tuesday to Belfast.
A trip to Wales will follow later in the week, completing his tour of all four nations of the United Kingdom.
The new monarch will be joined at memorial services by British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was only appointed by the late queen on Tuesday.
