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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Ryan Carroll

King Charles' flight takes off from Aberdeen Airport as plane heads for London

King Charles' flight has taken off from Aberdeen Airport as he heads to London with the Queen Consort.

The King arrived at the airport in a dark suit and was carrying what appeared to be a folder or file as he made his way towards the plane. Charles stopped to shake hands and chat to three people at the plane steps before Camilla, his new Queen Consort, joined him holding an umbrella.

She was wearing a long black coat and made her way up the steps and on to the plane ahead of her husband. It's the next step in the new monarch's poignant journey from Balmoral to London, following the death of his mother the Queen.

A plane takes off from Aberdeen Airport with King Charles III and the Queen onboard as they travel to London (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

The grief-stricken King was glimpsed for the first time since his accession to the throne as he departed Birkhall, his private home on the Balmoral estate, by car at around 11.15am on Friday. With Camilla in the front passenger seat, Charles sat in the back looking sombre.

Camilla boards the flight from Aberdeen to London (Aaron Chown/PA Wire)

Camilla stared straight ahead as they were driven from the Scottish residence, where they had rushed to be at the Queen's bedside when she fell gravely ill. The couple stayed overnight at Balmoral, where Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully aged 96 on Thursday afternoon.

Members of the royal family had made the urgent dash to be with the frail monarch as her health failed. Her children - Charles, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and Earl of Wessex - travelled to the castle, as did the Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge, the Countess of Wessex and the Duke of Sussex.

The King was pictured in the back of a car as it left Balmoral (PA)

Senior royals will have duties to perform in Scotland in the coming days when the Queen's coffin begins its journey back to the capital, but Harry was spotted leaving Balmoral on Friday morning. The British Airways flight carrying the Duke of Sussex landed at London Heathrow Airport at 11.32am after completing its journey from Aberdeen International Airport.

In an update at around 1.40pm on Friday, the PA news agency confirmed the plane carrying the King had landed at RAF Northolt in west London.

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