The Long Last Journey Home

THE Queen’s 500-mile journey from her beloved Balmoral Castle to Buckingham Palace begins today.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to pay their respects as Her Majesty is taken to Edinburgh, which will become the first major focal point of a nation in mourning.

After a night at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen will lie in state for 24 hours at St Giles’ Cathedral. Her coffin will be flown to London on Tuesday, before being driven to Buckingham Palace. Every stage of her extraordinary three-day journey will be closely followed by a British public coming to terms with its grief.

Today

At 10am the Queen’s oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland, will be carried by six Balmoral estate gamekeepers from the castle’s ballroom to a waiting hearse. It will initially head east to the coast, before swinging south towards Edinburgh.

Huge crowds are expected to line the route of the 170mile journey to the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The cortege will take six hours as it slows to allow mourners to pay their respects, arriving in Edinburgh at 4pm.

The Queen, the first Monarch to die in Scotland since 1542, will rest overnight in Holyroodhouse’s oakpanelled Throne Room.

Tomorrow

At 2.35pm the coffin will be taken 1,200 yards up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to the 14th Century St Giles’ Cathedral. The King and other senior members of the Royal Family will follow on foot. At 2.55pm the coffin, with the Crown of Scotland on top, will be carried into the cathedral. In a hugely poignant scene, the King and other family members will mount a vigil by the coffin at 7.20pm. The Queen will then lie at rest for 24 hours, and thousands are expected to file past.

Tuesday

At 5pm, the Queen’s coffin will be taken by hearse to

Edinburgh Airport, where it will be met by a Guard of Honour from the Royal Regiment of

Scotland before a Royal Air Force bearer party carries it on to a waiting aircraft.

The late Monarch’s flight home will depart at 6pm. She will be accompanied by Princess

Anne, and arrive at

RAF Northolt in West London 55 minutes later.

The coffin will then be driven to Buckingham Palace, where it will be met by a guard of honour from the

King’s Guard. Under the gaze of the King and the Queen Consort, the coffin will be carried by a detachment of Grenadier Guards to the Bow Room, where a rota of chaplains will keep watch over it.

Wednesday September 14

Adorned with the Imperial State Crown, the coffin will be placed on a horsedrawn gun carriage at 2.22pm and taken through central London to the Palace of Westminster. For the second time in three days, the King will walk behind his mother’s coffin.

Guns will fire in Hyde Park during the procession and Big Ben will toll.

The coffin will be placed on a catafalque – a raised bier

– and the Queen will lie in state in Westminster

Hall for four days. Tens of thousands are expected to file past to pay their respects. A continuous vigil will be held by the

King’s Guards.

Thursday September 15

A rehearsal will take place in London for the state funeral procession.

Friday September 16

King Charles will travel to Wales to receive a motion of condolence at the Welsh parliament and to attend a service at Llandaff Cathedral in Cardiff.

Sunday September 18

An evening reception for funeral guests, including prime ministers from the realms, heads of state and other dignitaries. The King will hold an audience with the Prime Minister.

Monday September 19

At 11am Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey, left. The Queen’s coffin is expected to be carried to the Abbey on a gun carriage, pulled by naval ratings.

Military personnel will line the streets and the King and other members of the Royal Family will walk behind the coffin. Two minutes of silence will be held across the nation at midday. Later, there will be a committal service in St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

The Queen will be buried in the King George VI memorial chapel, where she will be reunited with Prince Philip, her husband of 73 years.

Since he died in April 2021, his coffin has been held in the Royal Vault beneath St George’s Chapel. He was not to be buried until the Queen died. But he is now set to be with her for eternity in the Chapel.

The Queen’s parents, King George VI and Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and the ashes of Princess Margaret, her sister, are also there.