From the Queen’s summer retreat in the Highlands, the Queen’s oak coffin set off for Ballater, where it arrived first, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland and topped with a wreath of Balmoral flowers.
The Queen was regarded as a neighbour by the people of Ballater since she and her family were often seen in the hamlet in Royal Deeside, which she had frequented since she was a little kid and where the royal family had room to be themselves.
For the tens of thousands who flocked to the streets yesterday to see the Queen’s last voyage, her impending death became a terrible reality.
After Her Majesty made her final departure from her beloved Balmoral, many had travelled through the night to reserve their spots along the road.
As the Queen’s oak coffin, wrapped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, reached the destination of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, there was a mournful atmosphere.
As the Queen’s coffin was gently driven along the village’s main street, hundreds of people lined the roadway, and many businesses honoured the Queen by hanging pictures of her in their windows.
Following the announcement of the Queen’s passing, the Rev. David Barr rung the church bells at Glenmuick Church 70 times.
Mourners could see the coffin, which was draped in the royal flag and adorned with flowers from the Balmoral estate, including sweet peas, one of the Queen’s favourite flowers, dahlias, phlox, white heather, and pine fir, plainly when the vehicle slowed to a quick walking speed.
Aberdeen native Elizabeth Taylor was in tears as she processed what she had just witnessed.
It was quite emotional, she remarked. It was courteous and conveyed their feelings for the Queen. Even a few days before to her passing, she undoubtedly rendered service to our nation.
Andrew Brown, a 63-year-old Royal Admirer, saw the hearse as it moved slowly along the Royal Mile and commented, “This has brought it all home.”
I believe that seeing the casket and the cortege with my own eyes gives it more of a reality. I had been in a bit of a state of shock and numbness.
The Glasgow resident, Mr. Scott, said, “It’s a sad day, but I’m pleased I had a chance to say goodbye.” Given how much the Queen adored Scotland, I believe it is appropriate that her last voyage started in Balmoral.
Ashley Coventry, an Edinburgh-based hairdresser, said: “It simply seems strange.” I believe we all anticipated its arrival. But it’s also the realisation that this place is a mark of history. The quantity of people here astounds me. People have come from a great distance and from everywhere.
It’s simply a steady stream of people, Ashley, who was there with her daughter Hannah, 9, and husband Scott, 39, said. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The Queen was adored in Scott’s family, and this is a very sad day.
Lynda Amos, 69, and her husband Richard, 67, described how they took a detour from their vacation in the Scottish Highlands to pay their respects in Edinburgh.
The pair resides in Duns in the Scottish Borders, 50 miles south of the national centre.
“We came right here,” Lynda remarked. We’re heartbroken. We had just recently seen photos of her meeting Liz Truss, so it came as quite a shock to us. Although it is very sad, a fresh beginning has also begun.
Their lives have always included the Queen. When her father passed away, my father—a member of the Royal Air Force—was in Kenya, where the Queen was vacationing.
When Elizabeth returned to Britain to become Queen, they all gathered to the airport and stood at attention.
We’ve attended a few of the garden parties here. On her way up to Balmoral every year, the Queen would stop over to host them. She would really try, and everyone would be dressed up. She was wonderful.
“Being here makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up,” remarked chartered surveyor Richard.
It happens after King Charles was welcomed by many well-wishers as he arrived at Buckingham Palace to meet with Commonwealth officials.
Around 1pm, crowds lined The Mall, cheering and waving as Britain’s new monarch was driven through the Palace gates in his state Rolls-Royce, followed by a motorcade of four cars and four police motorcycles.
The crowds included excited young children sitting on top of parents’ shoulders and trying to take photos with their phones.
The King was greeted by mourners as he entered Buckingham Palace, followed soon after by his wife Camilla, Queen Consort.
Yesterday at 2pm, Charles met with Patricia Scotland, the general secretary of the Commonwealth, in the 1844 Room before going to the Bow Room of the royal house for a reception with the high commissioners and their wives from nations where he is the head of state.
The Dean of Windsor was then met by the King, who was yesterday officially proclaimed in St. James’s Palace.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, the Antigua and Barbuda Commissioner (whose republican Prime Minister has threatened a referendum on leaving the Crown), the Honorary Consul of Tuvalu, the Acting High Commissioner for Australia, and representatives from the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, New Zealand, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines were among the guests.
Following his late mother’s passing at Balmoral on Thursday at the age of 96, the King and Queen will travel to each of the four home countries the following week in preparation for her state funeral at Westminster Abbey and burial at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor.