The Queen began her final journey leaving her beloved Balmoral for the last time, as tens of thousands stood for hours in the streets to pay their respects.
Her oak coffin carried by six gamekeepers, who the Queen enjoyed a personal relationship with over many years, at 10am emerged to hushed silence from her home in the Scottish Highlands.
Dedicated royal staff wept in the corridors as the casket draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland and adorned with a wreath of flowers from the estate including sweet peas, one of Elizabeth’s favourites, passed by.
Over a six hour journey a single motorbike police outrider led the way as the hearse, followed by six vehicles, travelled at a stately pace through the Aberdeenshire countryside.
Huge crowds, more than a dozen deep in places and down to single solitary figures in others along the 180 mile journey to Edinburgh, bade their last goodbyes before the late monarch arrived in Edinburgh to greet the cortege, including her devastated daughter Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
In a deeply resonant sermon today (Sunday) the Archbishop of Canterbury said the Queen “somehow seemed to transcend cultures, languages and nations”.
Speaking at Canterbury Cathedral, Justin Welby said people who met the Queen were “always struck by her ability to make them feel as though they were the most important, the only person in the room, the only person in the street, in the crowd”.
In a tribute to the new King he added: “King Charles III has the same ability to see the value of each person as God sees them.
“That is his conscious understanding of people.”
Thousands watched in silence yesterday (SUN) as a military guard of honour and around 50 members of staff ushered the Queen’s coffin into the Palace of Holyroodhouse at 4pm.
The late monarch will lie-in-rest for 24 hours before being moved to St Giles’ Cathedral on the Royal Mile.
Huge crowds are expected to gather in the Scottish capital to witness the proclamation of her son King Charles III as head of state.
The King will return to Scotland on Monday to lead his mother’s coffin in a solemn procession to St Giles, accompanied by the Queen’s other children Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, as well as the Princess Royal’s husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
The Queen Consort and the Countess of Wessex will follow in a car.
Senior members of the Royal Family including the King, will hold continuous vigils from 7.20pm (MON) known as the Vigil of Princes.
The events are set to be “truly historic” according to Lord Lieutenant of Edinburgh, Robert Aldridge..
This morning (MON) the King will summon officials to meet at Westminster Hall in London to begin his whistle stop tour of the UK, where he will be passed messages of condolence from the three remaining nations after his proclamation as King at the Accession Council in London on Saturday.
The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, paid tribute to the Queen,
calling her “extraordinary”.
In a tweet, she said: “A sad and poignant moment as Her Majesty, The Queen leaves her beloved Balmoral for the final time.
“Today, as she makes her journey to Edinburgh, Scotland will pay tribute to an extraordinary woman.”
Meanwhile, crowds erupted in cheers as the King arrived at Buckingham Palace at lunchtime today (Sunday) to meet with Commonwealth general secretary Patricia Scotland.
King Charles could be seen waving to onlookers as his car drove down The Mall and into the palace gates, accompanied by a motorcade of four cars and four police motorbikes.
He was later followed by the Queen Consort, Camilla, in a separate motorcade.
Police have mounted a full scale operation in Scotland and London in preparation for the Queen’s journey to the capital on Tuesday.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Cundy said hundreds of extra officers had already been called in as thousands descended on the capital following the monarch’s death.
Officers are likely to be concerned with managing crowds, with a huge number of mourners expected to queue for several hours, including overnight, to pay their respects to the Queen as she lies in state,
expected to be from Wednesday.
Leaders from around the globe will also travel to the UK for the state funeral on Monday, meaning security will be of increased concern.
Mr Cundy said: “Our role is to ensure this is going to be a safe and a secure set of events.
“Our policing operation is hugely complex, with a huge amount of detail within it, as you can well imagine.
Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that the Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson are to take in the Queen’s beloved corgis following her death.
A spokeswoman for Andrew said he and the Duchess of York will take on Muick and Sandy - two dogs the late monarch received as gifts from her son.
The Queen owned more than 30 corgis during her reign and was known for her love of the breed.
In early 2021, she was given two new puppies, one dorgi and one corgi, as a gift by Andrew while staying at Windsor during lockdown.
The puppies kept the monarch entertained while the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital and Buckingham Palace and the royals were dealing with the bitter fallout from Megxit and the Sussexes’ Oprah interview.
The Queen named the dorgi Fergus after her uncle who was killed in action during the First World War, and the corgi Muick, pronounced Mick, after Loch Muick on the Balmoral estate.
But the monarch was devastated when five-month-old Fergus died just weeks later, in the aftermath of Philip’s death.
He was later replaced with a new corgi puppy, from Andrew and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie for her official 95th birthday, who the Queen named Sandy.
