Scots bid farewell to late queen at cathedral
EDINBURGH, Scotland — As Queen Elizabeth II’s four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin Monday along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a “constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.”
Four days after the 96year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-andyellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in a solemn procession.
King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles’ Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the king’s ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland.
Inside the church, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand and topped with the golden Crown of Scotland, encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotland’s rivers.
“And so we gather, to bid Scotland’s farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary,” said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.
Because the queen died at her summer home of Balmoral, Scotland has been the focus of the world’s attention for the first part of Britain’s 10 days of national mourning. Large crowds have lined the route as her coffin journeyed from the castle to Edinburgh, underscoring the deep bond between the queen and Scotland.
The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public can pay their respects. Thousands lined the 0.7-mile route between palace and cathedral.
Charles and his siblings later stood in silent vigil at the church, lowering their heads as they stood at four sides of their mother’s coffin.
Only Andrew was not in military uniform. The Royal Navy veteran was stripped of his honorary military titles over his friendship with the notorious U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Charles later visited the Scottish Parliament, where he was greeted by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The government, meanwhile, announced the nation will observe a minute of silence at 8 p.m. Sunday, the eve of the queen’s funeral.
Before flying to Scotland, Charles received condolences at Parliament on Monday and told lawmakers that he would follow his late mother’s example of “selfless duty.”
Hundreds of lawmakers crowded into the 1,000-yearold Westminster Hall for the service, rich in pageantry. A trumpet fanfare greeted him and wife Camilla, the queen consort.
Charles told the House of Commons and the House of Lords that he would follow his late mother in upholding “the precious principles of constitutional governance” that underpin the U.K.’s political system.
The ceremony was held in Westminster Hall because monarchs are not allowed inside the House of Commons since King Charles I tried to enter and arrest lawmakers. That confrontation led to a civil war, which ended with the king being beheaded in 1649.
The queen’s coffin will be flown Tuesday to London, where it will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament.