Queen Elizabeth II’s cortege arrives to huge crowds in Edinburgh
Queen Elizabeth II’s cortege has arrived in Edinburgh following a six-hour journey from Balmoral.
Mourners lined the streets as the hearse travelled from Aberdeenshire to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where her coffin will rest overnight.
A respectful silence fell as people waited for the procession to pass by before they burst into polite applause and cheers.
Crowds have also gathered to hear King Charles III proclaimed across the UK.
He will travel up to Scotland on Monday and will be joined by members of the Royal Family as he accompanies his mother’s coffin to the cathedral in the Scottish city.
The Queen’s cortege left her home at Balmoral at around 10:00 BST, winding through Aberdeen and Dundee among other villages and towns, on its way to Edinburgh.
Her coffin will lie under vigil in Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral on Monday before heading to London ahead of her funeral on Monday 19 September.
In Ballater, Aberdeenshire, near Balmoral, flowers were thrown into the road ahead of the cortege by mourners.
Down the road in Aboyne, pipes played as a hush fell over the village and the procession passed by, with one voice saying “you’re on your way now”.
As it drove through Edinburgh city centre, some six hours later, silence fell before there was applause from the crowd that had gathered there.
Hundreds of people lined Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, waiting sombrely to pay their respects.
The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, travelled in the second car of the cortege on the 175-mile journey, accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
She curtsied as her mother’s coffin was carried into Holyroodhouse – the monarch’s official residence in Scotland – where it will lie at rest in the throne room.
The Duke of York and Duke and Duchess of Wessex, who were there to receive the coffin, also bowed and curtsied respectively, alongside palace staff.
The country is in a period of national mourning until after the Queen’s funeral next Monday.
A series of constitutional and ceremonial events will take place over the coming days following her death aged 96 on Thursday. (Courtesy BBC)
