In a sombre, regal procession, Queen Elizabeth II's flag-draped coffin has been driven slowly through the Scottish countryside from her beloved Balmoral Castle to the Scottish capital of Edinburgh.
Mourners on Sunday packed city streets and highway bridges or lined rural roads with cars and tractors to take part in a historic goodbye to the monarch who had reigned for 70 years.
The hearse drove past piles of bouquets and other tributes as it led a seven-car cortege from Balmoral, where the Queen died on Thursday at 96, for a six-hour trip through Scottish towns to Holyroodhouse palace in Edinburgh.
The was draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland and topped with a wreath made of flowers from the estate, including sweet peas, one of the Queen's favourites.
The procession was a huge event for Scotland as the United Kingdom takes days to mourn its longest-reigning monarch, the only one most Britons have ever known. People turned out hours early to grab a space by the police barricades in Edinburgh. By afternoon, the crowds were 10 people deep.
Silence fell on the packed Royal Mile in Edinburgh as the hearse arrived. But as the convoy vanished from view, the crowd spontaneously started clapping.
When the hearse reached Holyroodhouse, members of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, wearing green tartan kilts, carried the coffin past the Queen's youngest three children --Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward -- into the throne room, where it was to remain until Monday afternoon so staff can pay their last respects.
King Charles III and his Queen Consort Camilla will travel Monday to Edinburgh to join another solemn procession that takes the coffin to St. Giles Cathedral on the city's Royal Mile. There the coffin will remain for 24 hours so the Scottish public can pay their respects before it is flown to London on Tuesday.
In each Scottish town and village, the entourage was met with respect. People stood mostly in silence. Some clapped politely, others pointed their phone cameras at the passing cars. In Aberdeenshire, farmers lined the route with an honour guard of tractors.
Sunday's solemn drive came as the Queen's eldest son was formally proclaimed the new monarch -- King Charles III -- in the rest of the UK: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It came a day after a pomp-filled accession ceremony in England.
Just before the proclamation was read Sunday in Edinburgh, a protester appeared with a sign condemning imperialism and urging leaders to "abolish the monarchy." She was taken away by police. Reaction was mixed. One man shouted, "Let her go! It's free speech!" while others shouted: "Have some respect!"
Earlier in the day, proclamations were read in other parts of the Commonwealth, including Australia and New Zealand.
Charles, even as he mourned his late mother, got to work at Buckingham Palace, meeting with the secretary-general and other Commonwealth envoys. Many in those nations are grappling with both affection for the Queen and lingering bitterness over their colonial legacies, which ranged from slavery to corporal punishment in African schools to looted artefacts held in British cultural institutions.
The coffin was taking a circuitous journey back to the capital. After it is flown to London on Tuesday, it will be moved from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state until a state funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19.
The Queen came to the throne following the death of her father King George VI on February 6, 1952, when she was 25.
Her coronation took place a year later.
The day of Elizabeth's funeral will be a public holiday in the UK, officials have announced.
© RAW 2022