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Coffin Of Queen Elizabeth II Arrives At Edinburgh Palace. On Sunday, thousands of mourners lined the road that Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin took to make its final trip from the Scottish retreat where she passed away to Edinburgh.
As the hearse carrying Britain’s longest-serving monarch finished the first leg of a somber journey that will conclude with her royal funeral in London on September 19, large crowds crowded the streets of Scotland’s capital.
After a six-hour drive from the queen’s Balmoral castle, where she passed away on Thursday, age 96, soldiers in kilts stood at attention as the seven-car cortege arrived at Holyroodhouse palace.
As the convoy, which included the queen’s lone daughter Princess Anne, passed, some of the well-wishers along the route had tossed flowers or cheered, while others were inconsolable.
“History is being made right now. We spent so much time with the queen—70 years—that “Stuart Mackay, a former soldier, commented.
Coffin Of Queen Elizabeth II Arrives At Edinburgh Palace. It’s the only monarch we’ve ever known, so I feel obligated to be present to bid her farewell.
After spending a day at Holyroodhouse Palace, the monarch’s official residence in Scotland, the queen’s coffin will be taken to St. Giles’ cathedral so that mourners can pay their respects there.
On Monday, her son Charles III, who was only legally proclaimed king on Saturday, will travel to Edinburgh to attend a prayer ceremony and to stand in vigil by her coffin with other royal family members.
The next day, the queen’s body will be flown to London where it will lie in state for four days in front of a funeral that will be broadcast across the world and attended by various heads of state.
Melancholic moment
Scotland, a country with strong royal ties but also where there is a powerful independence movement aiming to break the centuries-old union with the United Kingdom, will feel the symbolic weight of the queen’s final journey.
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon described the queen’s departure from her beloved Balmoral retreat as a “sad and tragic moment” on Twitter.
Her coffin will be carried up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral on Monday by Charles, who was also proclaimed monarch of Scotland during a ceremony laden with pomp and circumstance on Sunday.
The coffin will be driven to Buckingham Palace the next day after being transported by Royal Air Force plane to Northolt airport outside London. The body will then be transported to Westminster Hall on Wednesday to lie in state there.
In a show of support for the nation, King Charles will also travel to Wales and Northern Ireland. British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was just chosen by the late queen on Tuesday, will attend mourning services with the new monarch.
Charles’ popularity has increased since the passing of his ex-wife Diana, Princess of Wales, in a 1997 car accident, but he ascends to the throne at a time when Britain is deeply concerned about the rising cost of living and the insecurity produced by the conflict in Ukraine.
Together, William and Harry
While the end of the Elizabethan era has been acknowledged by Charles’ accession, Britain and the royal family are still coming to grips with it. Newspapers have dubbed this new era as “Carolean.”
On Saturday, Prince William broke his silence by paying a moving homage to his cherished “Grannie.”
William, who is now the Prince of Wales, remarked of his mother, “She was by my side at my happiest moments and she was by my side during the saddest days of my life.”
However, William, 40, and his younger brother Harry, 37, surprised everyone by displaying their family togetherness by speaking to well-wishers outside Windsor Castle.
Even if they split out to address and shake hands with opposing sides of the applauding crowds, seeing the two couples together for the first time since 2020 would undoubtedly lead to rumors of a reconciliation.
The four were featured prominently in photos that covered the newspaper covers on Sunday.
The Sunday Mirror published with the title “Reunited for Granny,” while the Telegraph ran with “Reunited in sadness” and the Sun ran with “All 4 One.“
“Warring Windsors’ uneasy truce to honor the Queen,” was the headline in The Sunday Times, which focused on the apparent icy relations.
Amazing example
At the official Accession Council on Saturday at St. James’s Palace, Charles swore to “strive to follow the magnificent example I have been set” by his mother over her “lifetime of service.”
In recent days, thousands of people have gathered in front of Buckingham Palace and other royal palaces to lay flowers and condolence messages or simply to witness history being made.
But before the broadcast funeral service at Westminster Abbey across the street, officials anticipate that a lot more people will pay their respects while the queen lies in state.
National leaders from several countries, including US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and potentially the Japanese Emperor Naruhito, will attend the queen’s funeral. She ascended to the throne in 1952 at the age of just 25.
President Xi Jinping of China, who is not anticipated to attend, congratulated Charles on his accession to the throne and expressed his willingness to “increase friendly exchanges and mutually beneficial collaboration.”
In simultaneous ceremonies on Sunday, Charles was solemnly crowned king in Australia and New Zealand, two former British colonies that nevertheless maintain the monarchy despite their independence.
On Sunday, Charles held his first reception for delegates of the 14 former colonies that make up the Commonwealth nations, which he also rules over alongside the United Kingdom.
One of the 73-year-greatest old’s difficulties will be how to maintain the global family that his late mother Queen Elizabeth II so cherished in the face of republican movements gaining ground everywhere from Australia to Antigua.
As Britain experienced post-World War II destitution, the end of its empire, and more recent changes like Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, the queen’s record-breaking 70 years on the throne served as a constant.
