Queen Elizabeth’s coffin has arrived in London from Edinburgh and been carried by hearse to her home of 70 years Buckingham Palace.
Queen Elizabeth’s coffin has arrived in London from Edinburgh and been carried by hearse to her home of 70 years Buckingham Palace
Sounds of pipers filled the streets of Scotland as the British monarch’s English oak, lead-lined casket – prepared three decades ago – left the nation.
It was carried out of St Giles’ Cathedral – where thousands of mourners spent the last day filing silently past the casket to pay their respects – by kilt-clad pallbearers at 4.15pm into a hearse then driven up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
It was draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland and decorated with a large wreath while a guard of honour made up of the King’s Bodyguard for Scotland and pipers followed the cortege to Edinburgh Castle and Edinburgh Airport.
A sea of tens of thousands of mourners, whose presence sparked the biggest security operation ever seen in Scotland, applauded as the coffin left Scotland.
At Edinburgh Airport, the Queen was received by the Royal Regiment of Scotland with a royal salute, before a bearer party from the Royal Air Force carried the coffin onto an RAF Globemaster C-17 aircraft.
It was accompanied by her daughter the Princess Royal, with the British National Anthem ringing out as the craft took off at around 5.40pm.
While in the air, Anne issued a statement paying tribute to her late mother, who died peacefully at her home in Balmoral on September 8 aged 96.
She said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys.”
Among VIPs at Edinburgh Airport were Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack.
The plane carrying the coffin touched down at RAF Northolt in west London just before 7pm.
A bearer party carried the Queen’s coffin from the aircraft to the waiting state hearse to begin the journey by road along the A40 towards Buckingham Palace, where tens of thousands of mourners had spent days gathering for a final glimpse of Her Majesty.
When she arrived at the palace, another guard of honour was formed, this time by the King’s Guard, as the coffin arrived at the Grand Entrance.
The Queen’s coffin will rest in the Bow Room of Buckingham Palace overnight before her coffin is taken by procession to the palace of Westminster.
The coffin will leave at 2.22pm and crowds will be able to watch the cortege make the journey along the Mall, Horseguard’s Parade and Whitehall, with the procession to include King Charles and members of the royal family.
The coffin will reach Westminster Hall at 3pm for the four full days of lying in state, and members of the public will be able to pay respect from 5pm ahead of the Queen’s state funeral – a bank holiday in the UK – on Monday September 19.
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