Queen’s coffin arrives at royal residence in Scottish capital, the first leg of her final journey
Sep 11, 2022, 10:52 AM | Updated: 12:05 pm
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Pallbearers carry the coffin of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as the hearse arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on September 11, 2022 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
(Photo by Alkis Konstantinidis/WPA Pool/Getty Images)
EDINBURGH — The Queen’s coffin has arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, following a six-hour journey from Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital.
Crowds of mourners lined the streets of villages and cities, paying tribute to the monarch as her cortege made its way across Scotland on the first of the Queen’s 8-day journey to her final resting place.
Britain’s longest-serving monarch died Thursday at the age of 96 at her Scottish country estate in Balmoral. Her funeral will be held in London on September 19.
Happy Sunday Beautiful Barmcakes 💙
Our Beautiful Queens coffin is set to leave the Balmoral Castle Estate in the next hour 💙🏰
Old 3 Chins absolutely loved his time there last year 💙 stunning gardens & a magical place to visit 💙
RIP Our Beautiful Queen Elizabeth 💙💙 pic.twitter.com/Ci8msP9u2X
— Colin John Blair (@ColinJohnBlair) September 11, 2022
Her son, now King Charles III, pledged the rest of his life to the monarchy after he was formally confirmed as the new King of the United Kingdom during a ceremony at St. James’s Palace on Saturday.
At 10 a.m. local time (5 a.m. ET) the coffin left Balmoral, traveling through Scotland to the official Scottish residence of the British royal family.
After passing through several villages and the cities of Aberdeen and Dundee, it then made its way down the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. People in the Scottish capital had camped out in anticipation of the arrival of the Queen’s coffin.
The Queen’s coffin has completed its six-hour journey from Balmoral to Edinburgh, where it will rest at the Palace of Holyroodhouse overnight.
Huge crowds gathered down the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital to bid farewell to the late Monarch. #royalfamily #royal #queen pic.twitter.com/lao1zxmDlQ
— The Royal Family Channel (@RoyalFamilyITNP) September 11, 2022
The coffin arrived at the forecourt of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where it was greeted with an honor guard made up of the Royal Regiment of Scotland who performed a royal salute.
The coffin will be transferred to the palace’s Throne Room, where household staff will be able to pay their final respects to the late monarch — similar to how the coffin was placed in the ballroom at Balmoral.
On Monday, the coffin will proceed down the Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection attended by the King and Queen Consort and royal family members, as well as a congregation made up “from all areas of Scottish society,” the senior palace official said.
Afterward, the coffin will rest there for 24 hours to allow the Scottish public to see it, in a tradition known as lying in state.
The coffin will then be flown from Edinburgh to London on Tuesday evening.
The following day, the coffin will be moved again, from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state, which will end on the morning of the state funeral.
On the morning of September 19 — a public holiday across the UK — the Queen’s lying in state will end. The coffin will then travel in procession once more to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral.
After the funeral, the coffin will be taken again in procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch. From there, it will travel to Windsor. Once in Windsor, the hearse will travel to St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle for the committal service.
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