Queen leaves Scotland for final time
LONDON: The Queen’s coffin has begun its poignant final journey to Buckingham Palace, while the King will travel to Northern Ireland for the first time as monarch.
King Charles III was joined by his sister Princess Anne and brothers Princes Andrew and Edward for a 10minute vigil yesterday at St Giles' Cathedral, where they stood, heads bowed, at the four sides of the coffin while members of the public filed past the oak coffin to pay their respects.
While a bagpipe lament had been the only sound as kilted soldiers bore the casket earlier, the four royals left the vigil in darkness to the sound of applause from mourners lining the street.
``I was awed by the fact that I was in the cathedral with Queen Elizabeth, who I have looked up to all my life,'' said Marie Claire Cross (55).
``It was awesome in the true sense of the word and it was so sad.''
Charles, on his Operation Spring Tide tour around the UK with Camilla, the Queen Consort, was to leave Scotland for Belfast before returning to London.
Members of the public are already queuing for the Queen’s lying in state at Westminster Hall, which opens today, with thousands placing floral tributes in London’s Green Park.
Mourners have been asked by Royal Parks to not leave marmalade sandwiches — a nod to the Queen’s popular comedy sketch with Paddington Bear — for fear of a negative effect on wildlife.
At 5am today NZT, the Queen was to depart Scotland for the final time, as her coffin was flown from Edinburgh Airport to London on an RAF Globemaster C17 flight, accompanied by her daughter the Princess Royal, arriving at 5.55am.
The King will be joined by Camilla as he receives his mother’s coffin at Buckingham Palace, where she spent so many of her decades as sovereign.
The Prince and Princess of Wales will also be at the palace.
A guard of honour formed of three officers and 96 soldiers from The King’s Guard will be mounted in the Quadrangle.
Military commands, usually shouted, will be given as quietly as possible in honour of the solemn occasion.
The coffin will be carried by a bearer party to the Bow Room where a sovereign’s piper will play a lament.
Later today, it will be taken on a gun carriage as part of a grand military procession to Westminster Hall where a period of lying in state will begin until September 19, the day of the funeral.
Members of the public will be allowed to process past the coffin, which will be covered by the Royal Standard flag with the sovereign's Orb and Sceptre placed on top, for 24 hours a day until the morning of the funeral.
The King’s visit to Northern Ireland today comes ahead of a trip to Wales later in the week.
After touching down in Belfast, King Charles and Camilla were to travel to Hillsborough Castle in Co Down, the royal residence in Northern Ireland, for several engagements.
They will hold a private audience with the new Northern Ireland Secretary Chris HeatonHarris, as well as meeting representatives of political parties in the region and receiving a message of condolence on behalf of the people of Northern Ireland.
King Charles and Camilla will then travel to St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast where they will attend a service of reflection for the life of the Queen. — BPA/Reuters