Queen Elizabeth II began her final journey on Sunday, with her coffin leaving Balmoral Castle for Edinburgh, before her return to London on Tuesday and ahead of her funeral on September 19.
A procession of seven vehicles led the royal hair down the road shortly after 10:00 a.m. (9:00 a.m. GMT) past the gates of the king’s favorite summer residence.
The oak coffin was draped with the Scottish Royal Standard, upon which was placed a bouquet of flowers. He is scheduled to reach Scotland’s capital Edinburgh around 4:00 pm (3:00 GMT) after a journey of around 300 km. He will stay overnight at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scottish royal residence.
Thousands of people are expected to attend this course. Some came too early to bid a final farewell to the man who had reigned for 70 years and 7 months, a familiar and reassuring presence, but still mysterious, impervious to ages and crises.
“I had to come to Balmoral,” said Mark Lindley-Highfield, a 47-year-old academic who arrived on Saturday from Inverness, a two-hour drive north. On this occasion, he wore a black tail coat and top hat. “Her Majesty selflessly gave us her life and time. Paying homage to her in a traditional manner is a way of thanking her for all that she has done.
Spectators were asked not to throw flowers as the convoy passed by, so as not to disturb the meticulous layout of the much-loved 96-year-old sovereign’s final visit to the United Kingdom.
The hearse then passed through Ballater, the nearest village to the castle, where the Queen had been well known to Balmoral since childhood. The casket was greeted by a crowd of people in the main streets with an arranged salute.
AFP
Protected by the enormity of the royal domain (more than 20,000 hectares of moors, forests and farmland), she lived a simpler and more peaceful life there.
The funeral procession left for Aberdeen and Dundee before proceeding to Edinburgh.
His funeral will take place on September 19 at London’s Westminster Abbey, a mecca for royal weddings, coronations and burials for nearly a millennium.
It was only there that Princess Elizabeth married 21-year-old Philip Mountbatten in November 1947. She was also coronated here on June 2, 1953.
The funeral will be attended by US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, along with a host of other crowned dignitaries.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to pay their last respects at the Palace of Westminster, where his coffin will lie in repose from September 14 to 19, before being moved to the Abbey, where the funeral will take place at 10:00 GMT. 19, is designated as a public holiday in the UK.
King Charles III was crowned King on Saturday at a centenary celebration.
AFP
“My mother’s reign was unparalleled in its duration, her piety and her piety (…) I am deeply aware of this great heritage, duties and weighty responsibilities of sovereignty, which have now been transmitted to me,” he declared. .
“In assuming these responsibilities, I will strive to follow the inspiring example set before me,” he continued.
Her son William, now heir to the throne and Prince of Wales, paid a moving tribute to his grandmother.
“She was by my side in my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life. I knew this day was coming, but it will take time to get used to the reality of life without a grandmother, an “extraordinary queen,” he said Saturday.
“I will honor the memory of my father, the King, by supporting him in any way I can.”
The prince was accompanied by his wife Kate and created a surprise, but his brother Harry and his wife Meghan also admired flowers laid in front of Windsor Castle in tribute to Elizabeth II, where the much-admired quartet took a long bath.
Both couples are very cool. Although Harry and Meghan are now settled in California, they have not been seen together in public for over two years.
They all leave in the same car, but faces are closed, interactions are minimal.
According to the Times newspaper, it took “extended negotiations” behind the scenes between the two camps, delaying their show by 45 minutes.
Increasingly frail in recent months, the Queen has devoted her life to the monarchy. On Tuesday, she was still at work, hosting an audience with outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson and new Prime Minister Liz Truss, whom she asked to form a new government.
However, the Emperor remained at Balmoral for this audience, too weak to travel.
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