Queen Elizabeth death: Monarch returns home for the last time
The Queen’s body will rest overnight in the Bow Room of the palace she called home for most of her adult life.
The Queen has arrived back in London for the last time, with her coffin being flown from Scotland and then driven through the city to her home in Buckingham Palace.
King Charles and the Queen Consort Camilla were there to greet the former monarch’s coffin after returning to London following their visit to Northern Ireland. William and Kate, the new Prince and Princess of Wales, were also there to greet the Queen.
Crowds of mourners lined the streets as the late Queen's coffin passed through the gates of Buckingham Palace having travelled through London from RAF Northolt. pic.twitter.com/FOtRS96ucl
— The Royal Family Channel (@RoyalFamilyITNP) September 13, 2022
Despite rain, large crowds gathered in the streets near the palace to watch the arrival of their monarch of 70 years. She was accompanied on the plane from Scotland to London by her daughter Princess Anne.
In the Buckingham Palace Quadrangle, the Queen’s coffin was greeted by a guard of honour comprising 99 soldiers from the Queen’s Guard. Her body will rest in the Bow Room of the Palace overnight.
It will be the Queen’s last night in the palace she called home for most of her adult life. Although she moved to Windsor Castle when the pandemic hit, it was Buckingham Palace where the Queen spent most time.
Her arrival in London followed a ceremonial farewell in Scotland where the draped coffin was carried out of St Giles Cathedral after lying in state for 24 hours.
During that time an estimated 33,000 people poured through the Cathedral to pay their respects, with many nodding towards the casket, some in tears. People queued all night to try to glimpse the coffin, something which is likely to happen on an even larger scale in London.
After being carried out of the Cathedral the hearse took the Queen one last time down the famous Royal Mile, which was lined with supporters who clapped as she passed. The procession then arrived at the airport where the coffin was carried onto a military plane.
A guard of honour was on the tarmac to farewell the former monarch with a military band playing the national anthem as her plane taxied along the runway. It then took off, taking the Queen from her beloved Scotland for the final time.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicole Sturgeon said: “Scotland has bid a final and poignant farewell to our much loved Elizabeth, Queen of Scots.”
Late Wednesday (AEST) a gun carriage of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery will carry the coffin through central London to the Palace of Westminster.
King Charles and other members of the royal family will walk behind the coffin in a procession that will take around 40 minutes and is expected to attract massive crowds. A short service will be held upon their arrival.
The Queen will then lie in state in Westminster Palace for five days before being taken to Westminster Abbey on Monday for her funeral.
The funeral will be attended by the largest number of world leaders and dignitaries since Winston Churchill’s funeral in 1965.
After the funeral, the Queen’s coffin will be taken to St George Chapel in Windsor Castle where she will be laid to rest alongside her husband Prince Philip and her father King George VI.
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