Final goodbye to a land close to her heart
King Charles and his three siblings walk behind the Queen’s coffin through the streets of Edinburgh in a powerful tribute.
King Charles walked behind the Queen’s coffin through the streets of Edinburgh on Monday night (AEST), in a powerful tribute to his mother before she lies in state.
The ceremony marked a farewell to Scotland for the 96-year-old monarch, a last goodbye to the place where she was happiest and where some believed she chose to be at the time of her death.
The street walk, watched by a large crowd, was also a chance for the people of Scotland to pay their final respects.
The royal family, including all four of the Queen’s children – Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward – accompanied the Queen’s coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles Cathedral along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. At the cathedral, the Crown of Scotland was to be placed on the Queen’s coffin ahead of a formal service.
The coffin will be guarded for 24 hours by the Royal Company of Archers and even briefly by the King and members of the royal family. The public will be allowed to file past the Queen for the first time.
The ceremonies follow the dramatic arrival of the Queen’s casket into the Scottish capital as tens of thousands of people lined the route and burst into spontaneous applause as she passed.
Crowds waited for hours, many coming from across Scotland and northern England, and waited ten deep to catch a glimpse of the hearse as it entered Edinburgh after its six-hour journey from Balmoral.
Scots are generally less enamoured with the monarchy than people south of the border, but police struggled to keep the huge crowds behind the barriers. One of them was Anne Raymond, a retiree who said she was no fan of the monarchy and who predicted a bad future under King Charles.
“I don’t like the institution, but I’m here because the Queen held herself very well,” Ms Raymond said. “You really have to respect that.
“But Charles is a different person. Charles isn’t going to keep out of politics like she did.
“He has strong views about green and environmental issues and he won’t be able to help himself. If he does speak out then that will shift what people think about the monarchy.”
Nearby, Fiona Graham, a young human resources worker, drove all the way from Glasgow to pay tribute to the Queen because she said she would be the last female role model in Buckingham Palace for a long time.
“She was a female leader for 70 years and that’s something very historic,” Ms Graham said.
“But the way the family line is going there will be no more queens for a long long time, and none like her.
“I loved that she stuck to the values of the monarchy but she also had a fun side, like the James Bond sketch and Paddington Bear.”
In a nearby pub, The Advocate, Patricia and Robert Foots said they made the five-hour drive north from Birmingham to pay their respects after receiving a message from the Queen on the day she died, congratulating them on their 60th wedding anniversary.
“It must have been one of the last messages she sent,” Ms Foots said.
“When we heard the news later that day that she had died, we were shattered, so we just had to make this journey to say thanks.”
They said they watched all day as the Queen’s coffin was driven from Balmoral.
At one stage the hearse passed an honour guard of tractors lined up by farmers as a tribute.
The hearse then travelled through the crowded heart of Edinburgh
It was driven into the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen’s official Scottish residence, which once housed Mary, Queen of Scots.
The Queen was greeted by the Royal Regiment of Scotland, which carried her coffin into the palace with her daughter Princess Anne giving a deep curtsy as she passed.
The Queen’s coffin was placed in the Throne Room of the palace, which was her official residence in Scotland and where she would spend at least a week each summer.
Princess Anne had accompanied her mother across Scotland, looking at times in utter despair. She will also accompany the Queen to London on Tuesday where she will come home to Buckingham Palace.
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