Queen honoured with final gesture as her four children pay sombre tribute
Queen honoured with final gesture as her four children pay sombre tribute to their mother and her crown is set upon her casket.
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The Queen’s crown was placed on her coffin today in a symbolic moment echoing her coronation nearly 70 years ago.
All four of her children - including the new King Charles - watched the solemn ritual at Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral following a procession on foot up the Royal Mile from Holyroodhouse.
She arrived at the cathedral at around 3.15pm, local time, where her coffin was carried inside draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland.
A choir sang Thou Wilt Keep Him In Perfect Peace, Whose Mind Is Stayed On Thee as the Crown of Scotland was placed on the coffin.
Over 70 years ago, the Queen made the same journey - Holyroodhouse to St Giles - following her coronation.
During a National Service of Thanksgiving in 1953, she was presented the Honours of Scotland - including the same crown.
It is the crown that was used at the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland and along with the sceptre and the sword, they are among the oldest surviving royal regalia in the UK.
It was made in 1540 for Scottish King James V from an earlier version that was damaged.
The crown was crafted from Scottish gold encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotlands rivers.
The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so members of the public can pay their respects.
King Charles looked emotional as he left Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh for St Giles’ Cathedral this afternoon.
The Queen’s four children bowed their heads over her coffin tonight as she lies in state at Edinburgh’s St Giles Cathedral.
Mourners filed past in solemn silence as King Charles III, Princess Anne and Princes Edward and Andrew stood guard in the moving vigil.
Wearing a kilt, the King stood at the head of the Queen’s coffin while his siblings took position on each remaining side.
Queen honoured with final gesture as her four children pay sombre tribute
KING LEADS QUEEN’S PROCESSION
The Queen brought people together, even in death, with thousands of mourners amassed in Edinburgh jostling to say goodbye, - and, she did the same with warring members of her family who united publicly in their grief to walk behind her coffin.
All eyes were on the new King leading the procession when he walked shoulder to shoulder, and side by side, with his siblings behind their mother’s casket.
With only four days since Queen’s Elizabeth II’s passing, it was clear the four were still struggling to accept their mother was no longer with them.
The Queen’s only daughter Anne, Princess Royal, walked stony faced ahead, flanked by King Charles III and her brother, the disgraced Duke of York, Prince Andrew - the only family member not in military uniform - and the Duke of Wessex Prince Edward.
Someone shouted: “God bless the Queen.”
The Queen is being taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to the cathedral where her family, and a congregation drawn from all areas of Scottish society, will attend a service of thanksgiving for her life.
A wreath on her coffin consists of nine different flowers, including white spray roses, white freesias, white button chrysanthemums and dried white heather.
The wreath also contains thistles, foliage, rosemary, hebe and pittosporum.
The coffin is due to rest at the cathedral for 24 hours.
KING CHARLES ARRIVES IN EDINBURGH
It comes as King Charles III and the Queen Consort landed in Edinburgh ahead of the Queen’s laying in rest at St Giles’ Cathedral as thousands thronged the pavements of the Royal Mile to glimpse the Queen’s coffin procession.
In an annual, symbolic, ceremony of the keys, the Monarch was handed the keys to the city presented on a velvet cushion as the Royal Standard flew at full mast above the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Tradition dictates that the King then returns them, entrusting their safekeeping to Edinburgh’s elected officials, when he leaves tomorrow.
The new monarch and his wife made their way by car to the Palace of Holyroodhouse where the Queen’s coffin was lying in rest overnight.
King Charles will later lead a short procession through the Old Town following his mother’s coffin with siblings Princess Anne, Prince Edward and Prince Andrew.
The mood was quiet but more optimistic than Sunday when crowds thronged the pavements to cheer the King’s cavalcade along the historical street to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
Mourners will get the first opportunity to pay respects before the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, as it lies in an Edinburgh cathedral where King Charles III will preside over the vigil.
KING TO VISIT NORTHERN IRELAND
King Charles will next travel to Northern Ireland in his first visit as monarch, meeting with feuding political leaders in a show of national unity.
The King and Queen Consort will make a highly-symbolic visit to Royal Hillsborough Castle, where the signing of the Good Friday Peace deal in 1998 ended decades of bloodshed.
His Majesty will meet with Belfast’s loyal unionists and the pro-independence nationalists who want to break away from the monarchy to reuinite Ireland into one country.
The tension between the countries has re-emerged since Brexit, which took the Northern Ireland out of the European Union, while the Republic of Ireland remains..
KING CHARLES ADDRESSES BRITISH PARLIAMENT
It comes as for the first time as sovereign, King Charles III addressed both Houses of British Parliament in a joint sitting in London’s 11th Century Westminster Hall, saying he “cannot help but feel the weight of history around us”.
With Queen Consort Camilla by his side, the king received formal condolences from the House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and House of Lords Speaker Lord John McFall of Alcluith, before he made a reply speech.
Quoting a line from Shakespeare about Elizabeth I, the King, in reference to his mother, said: “She was a pattern to all princes living.”
“As I stand before you I can’t help feel the weight of history around us,” he said.
King Charles said his mother when young and beginning her reign vowed unsurpassed devotion and selfless duty.
“I am resolved faithfully to follow,” he said.
Sir Lindsay expressed great sorrow over the Queen’s passing and expressed MPs’ “loyalty to him and our conviction that he will strive to uphold the liberties and to promote the happiness of the people in all his realms now and in the years to come”.
Addressing the King, Sir Lindsay said he had weighty responsibilities wearing the crown but knew he would lead with fortitude and dignity, as his mother had.
A similar address was presented by the Lords Speaker, Lord McFall.
The black-clad attendees included British Prime Minister Liz Truss, opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer, and a number of former prime ministers including Boris Johnson.
Earlier, Sir Lindsay had said the Queen’s passing was a loss to the whole Commonwealth but obviously to King Charles personally.
He said she was kind, had great humour and touched all. He said she sat in the seat the king was now in many times during her long reign during key milestones.
Addressing the King, he said he had weighty responsibilities wearing the crown but knew he would lead with fortitude and dignity as his mother had.
The whole hall then sang a resounding rendition of the national anthem, God Save the King, before their majesties departed accompanied by the Speakers of both houses.
The more than 1500 assembled were asked to swiftly leave the hall as the chairs had to be removed to set up the hall immediately for the arrival of the Queens coffin.
KING AND QUEEN CONSORT MAKE DRAMATIC ENTRANCE
Earlier, in grand scenes of pomp and ceremony, the King’s Body Guard of the Yeoman of the Guard took up positions and made a dramatic marching entrance.
King Charles and Camilla were formally welcomed by the Lord Speaker Lord McFall of Alcluith.
He said the Queen had captured the imaginations of people across the world and it was difficult to contemplate her reign would ever end.
“But it has ended,” he said solemnly.
He said the Queen’s fortitude and faith was a leading light now dimmed but her subjects would continue to draw strength from her shining example.
He formally offered condolences on behalf of the lords.
It prompted the assembled to take to their feet and wait till King Charles and Camilla Queen Consort sat to retake their seats.
Prior to their arrival, the Band of the Household Cavalry played a rendition of Danny Boy.
King Charles’ joint address ironically comes 10 years after Queen Elizabeth II did the same on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. It was the fifth time she had delivered an address there.
Queen Elizabeth II first addressed both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall in 1977, as part of her Silver Jubilee.
Her speech caused some controversy, as she used it to warn against devolution in Scotland and Wales, saying: “I cannot forget that I was crowned Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”
As well as MPs and Lords, members of the legislatures of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales are set to attend King Charles’s address, as will High Commissioners from the 14 realms that have Charles as Head of State. This includes Australia’s acting high commissioner Lynette Wood.
The last time King Charles appeared before parliament on May 10 this year was as the Prince of Wales where he stood in for the ill Queen for the State opening of parliament.
HARRY’S LOVING TRIBUTE
Prince Harry has paid tribute to his grandmother, saying “we smile knowing that you and grandpa are reunited now, and both together in peace”.
In a statement released on the Archewell website, he thanked the late Queen for her “commitment to service”, “sound advice” and “infectious smile”.
He added: “Granny, while this final parting brings us great sadness, I am forever grateful for all of our first meetings — from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved great-grandchildren.”
CROWDS WEEP, ROYAL FANS PAY TRIBUTE
Crowds ten deep lined the Royal Mile in the Old Town in an outpouring of grief, mirroring the emotional scenes of Sunday when the country’s longest serving monarch’s coffin left the Highlands.
The late monarch’s oak casket, draped in the Scottish Royal Standard, is set to be taken from the Throne Room of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral, flanked by a military bearer party.
The Duke of York, Earl of Wessex, the Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence are expected to walk with the new King, while the Queen Consort and other members of the monarchy were to follow in cars.
Mourners flocked to bow their heads, farmers lined their tractors in tribute and millions cheered and clapped when the official cortege, followed by a solemn Princess Anne from Balmoral, arrived in Edinburgh.
F1 GREAT’S BUTLER AND ROYAL FANS RECALL QUEEN MEMORIES
In a country known for its stiff upper lip, people wept openly in the streets.
From the time she acceded to the throne the Queen was a beloved figure in Britain, but few could have imagined the sheer outpouring of grief that has followed her death.
And people wept again when they watched Princess Anne bow her head when her mother arrived at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Edward’s wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex, were sombre as they received the coffin.
“She was an incredibly kind, and lovely woman, I served her twice in my life, and I feel incredibly sad today,” Edinburgh mourner Andy Kelly, F1 Racing driver Sir Jackie Stewart’s butler, said.
“I know she was the Queen but I feel sorry for the royal family, they are really feeling it, she
was a grandmother, mother, she was human.”
Carra Still, 23, paid tribute to the monarch who was taught to drive in Windsor by her great, great grandmother Violet Cooper, a Sergeant Major in World War II.
“The Queen would have been about 18 when my great, great grandmother taught her to drive in a Range Rover, I’m sad the Queen has gone, she was everybody’s grandmother and afforded the country stability,” she said.
The Queen’s body will remain in Scotland until Tuesday night (local time) when the Princess Royal will accompany her late mother from Edinburgh Airport to RAF Northolt.
The coffin will be met by a Guard of Honour from the King’s Guard as it arrives at Buckingham Palace.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will watch as it is carried to the Bow Room where chaplains will keep watch.
On Wednesday, there will be a horse and carriage procession through the streets of London to Westminster Hall.
At Windsor Castle, where the coffin will travel in a final procession to St George’s Chapel for her burial, was on Monday overwhelmed with more than 100,000 mourners.
Colin Rayner, a former mayor of Windsor, said the town was expecting twice as many next week.
“When Harry and Meghan were married, we stopped counting at 200,000 people, this will be bigger than that,” he said.
Mr Rayner, 64, who was having a drink in the Prince Harry pub in Windsor, said the death of the Queen was devastating.
“We just cried when we heard the news,” he said.
“But we’re relieved because King Charles III has stepped up to the plate. It took us seven weeks to find a new Prime Minister but only a second to get a new Head of State.”
Tens of thousands lined Windsor High Street to watch a marching band, before Mayor Christine Bateson, officially farewelled Queen Elizabeth and welcomed King Charles III.
A town crier then led a stirring rendition of God Save the King, with the patriot crowd joining in.
Some children sat on two-metre high windowsills to get a better view of the ceremony in front of the Queen Victoria statue, which stands in the shadows of the castle.
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Originally published as Queen honoured with final gesture as her four children pay sombre tribute
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