Mourners will get their first opportunity to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin on Monday, as it lies in an Edinburgh cathedral where King Charles III. himself will hold a vigil.
Thousands of people are expected to queue up to see the flag-bedecked coffin at St Giles’ Cathedral in the Scottish capital, a week before her funeral in London.
The new monarch will walk behind his mother’s coffin in a sombre procession leading to the church from Holyroodhouse Palace, where he arrived on Sunday after a six-hour road journey from Balmoral Castle.
The new king will also address British lawmakers in London for the first time since ascending the throne, while the pageantry continues ahead of the Queen’s state funeral on September 19.
The long period of mourning comes as Britain tries to reconcile the death of its longest-serving monarch, which has been a part of national life almost since the Second World War.
“Seeing her pass in front of us was a bit of a closure I think,” said Lucy Hampshire, who came to Edinburgh with her boyfriend from the English city of York to see the Queen’s coffin.
Crowds of 10 turned out in Edinburgh as the hearse drove through the city carrying the Queen, with some cheers, some throwing flowers and a few tears of respect for the Queen.
People also lined the streets of towns and villages along the 290-kilometer route from the Queen’s beloved Balmoral estate, where she died on Thursday at the age of 96 after seven decades on the throne.
– “Last Honor” –
The oaken coffin of Elizabeth II rested overnight in the throne room of Holyroodhouse Palace on Sunday, while Charles and his wife Camilla flew to Edinburgh on Monday following their visit to Parliament.
The King and senior royals will then follow on foot behind their hearse, flanked by soldiers, in a procession to take them along Edinburgh’s historic Royal Mile to the 12th-century St Giles’ Cathedral.
The coffin is carried into the imposing gray stone cathedral, where it will be crowned with the Scottish crown before a minister conducts a “service of prayer and reflection” for the Queen.
Her coffin will remain there for 24 hours “to allow the people of Scotland to pay their last respects,” a palace official said. According to reports, security will be tight and long queues are to be expected.
King Charles III and senior royals will hold a vigil alongside the late Queen at 19:20 (1820 GMT), while soldiers from the Royal Company of Archers will keep vigil throughout.
The Queen’s body will be flown on a Royal Air Force jet to an airfield near London on Tuesday, accompanied by the Queen’s daughter Princess Anne, and driven to Buckingham Palace.
The following day, royals will follow the coffin, which will be carried on a carriage, to Westminster Hall where it will be laid in pageantry from 17:00 (1600 GMT) until the day of the funeral.
At least a million people are expected to see the coffin in London. Officials warn that people should expect to wait “many hours” and possibly even queue overnight.
The funeral itself is said to be watched around the world and attended by numerous heads of state, including US President Joe Biden.
– ‘Why stop now?’ –
While Charles III. Assuming what he calls the “heavy responsibilities” of royalty, the new monarch’s traditional visit to Parliament will cement his role as constitutional head of state.
At the ceremony in Westminster Hall, the same place where the Queen will be laid to rest, both houses of the British Parliament will express their condolences on the “Queen’s death”.
Charles will then make a formal reply.
Charles will also make his first visits as royal to Northern Ireland and Wales this week in a show of national unity.
While the emotional scenes in Scotland showed the deep affection for the Queen there, her death has also reignited a debate about Scotland’s independence from the UK.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was a “sad and poignant moment” to see the coffin leave Balmoral, but the pro-independence leader has been pushing for a new referendum on the divisive issue.
“I’m not pro-independence – we’ve been together for hundreds of years. Why stop now?” said mourner Anne Johnston, 68, from Edinburgh.
However, she added that “Charles no evil, but I don’t think he’ll ever live up to the Queen.”
– Republican empires? –
Britons have lost the only monarch most of them have ever known, a figure familiar to them and millions around the world from banknotes, postage stamps and annual Christmas messages on television.
Charles has seen his popularity rebound since the death of his former wife Diana in a car crash in 1997, but he takes the throne at a moment of grave concern in Britain over the rising cost of living and international instability brought on by the war in Britain Ukraine were caused.
As republican movements gain ground from Australia to Antigua, the new king also faces the challenge of holding together the global royal family that the queen loved so dearly.
Charles hosted his first reception on Sunday for representatives of the Commonwealth realms, the 14 former colonies he governs alongside Britain – at least for the time being.
Just hours earlier, Australia and New Zealand had officially proclaimed Charles king.
But one question hanging over the royal family was settled on Sunday – when it emerged scandal-hit Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson will be looking after the Queen’s beloved corgis.
The prince, who stepped down from royal duties in 2021 because of his association with convicted US pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, will take on Muick and Sandy, the dogs he gave to the Queen that same year.
