Thousands of wellwishers gathered in the streets of Scotland on Sunday as Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin began an eight-day journey to her final resting place.
On Sunday morning, the hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin left the Balmoral castle in rural Scotland, the 96-year-old monarch’s favourite residence, where she passed away on Sept. 8.
Shortly after 4 p.m., the cortege arrived in Edinburgh, where the coffin will stay for two days before being flown to London ahead of the State Funeral on Sept. 19.
Thousands lined the streets on Sunday as the hearse passed through Aberdeen and Dundee and arrived in Edinburgh. When the royal convoy travelled down the Royal Mile near the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the crowd fell silent in respect before a round of applause and cheers broke out moments later.
The oak coffin was draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland. A wreath placed on top was made up of flowers from the Balmoral estate, including sweet peas—one of the Queen’s favourites—dahlias, phlox, white heather, and pine fir.
The Queen’s daughter Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, and her husband Sir Tim Laurence were accompanying the coffin.
The Queen’s two younger sons, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, received the Queen’s coffin at the Palace of Holyroodhouse along with Edward’s wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
The coffin will stay overnight in the Throne Room of the palace, which is the official royal residence in Edinburgh.
King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, who will visit Scotland on Monday as part of the King’s first trip around all four nations of the United Kingdom as sovereign, will accompany the Queen’s coffin in the afternoon in a procession to St Giles’ Cathedral, where royal family members will attend a service.
The coffin will lie at rest at the cathedral where Scottish people can pay their respects.
On Tuesday afternoon, it will be flown by Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft to London’s RAF Northolt, conveyed to Buckingham Palace by road, and placed in the Bow Room overnight.
The journey is part of “Operation Unicorn,” a plan named after Scotland’s national animal for the Queen dying in Scotland. The plan runs in parallel with “Operation London Bridge,”—the main plan for the Queen’s death.
On Wednesday afternoon, The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will carry the Queen’s coffin on a Gun Carriage in a procession to Westminster Hall, where the coffin will stay until the State Funeral.
A four-day Lying-in-State will begin after a short service on Wednesday night and end on the morning of the funeral.
Members of the public are invited to pay their respects to The Queen during the lying-in-state.
After the State Funeral, the Queen’s coffin will travel to her final resting place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, where her parents, sister, and husband were buried.
From The Epoch Times
