Queen Elizabeth’s coffin begins procession to Scotland
Queen Elizabeth’s coffin has left her home in the Scottish Highlands in a procession to Edinburgh.
The funeral cortege began a six-hour journey from her home in Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday as crowds lined the roads in silence, paying tribute to the monarch who reigned for 70 years.
At 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), Elizabeth’s oak coffin, which had been in the ballroom of Balmoral Castle since she died on Thursday aged 96, was placed in a hearse by six gamekeepers.
The slow cortege is 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.
Accompanied by the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, the cortege will slowly make its way from the remote castle, winding through small towns and villages to Edinburgh where the coffin will be taken to the throne room of the Palace of Holyrood house.
Tens of thousands have gathered at royal palaces in the days since Elizabeth’s death to leave flowers and to pay their respects.
“I know how deeply you, the entire nation – and I think I may say the whole world – sympathise with me in the irreparable loss we have all suffered,” her son King Charles said at a ceremony on Saturday.
FUNERAL
The day of Elizabeth’s funeral will be a public holiday in Britain, officials announced.
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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 will be flown to London and there will be a sombre procession when it is later moved from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where it will lie in state for four days.
In 2002 more than 200,000 people queued to pay their respects to Elizabeth’s mother while her coffin lay in state and aides have previously said there is an expectation that millions may want to visit.
“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, will 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.
The queen came to the throne following the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, when she was just 25. Her coronation took place a year later.
Charles became king immediately after his mother’s death but was officially proclaimed the new monarch at a ceremony full of pageant and centuries-old traditions.
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.
He is king and head of state not only of the United Kingdom but of 14 other realms including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
Zainab Sa’id
