Queen Elizabeth II’s final journey began on Sunday when her coffin was moved from Balmoral Castle, on the country estate where she died, at the start of a six-hour procession to Edinburgh, which will be the focus of Scotland’s farewell to its monarch.
The oak coffin was carried from the castle’s ballroom to a waiting hearse by six gamekeepers from the Balmoral estate, where the queen spent her summer vacations and for which she had a deep and long affection.
The departure from Balmoral, a remote outpost in the dramatic Scottish countryside, began a period during which Britons will be able to pay respects to the queen before her funeral on Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in London.
On Sunday, tens of thousands of people were expected to watch the hearse as it makes its way slowly from Balmoral, via Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth, before the procession is scheduled to arrive at 4 p.m. at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the royal family’s Edinburgh residence.
The fact that Queen Elizabeth spent her final days at Balmoral has underscored her close ties to Scotland, which, for two days, will be the central point of national mourning.
When it arrives in Edinburgh, the coffin will be greeted by a guard of honor and received with a royal salute before military bearers will carry it to the palace’s throne room.
On Monday afternoon, members of the royal family are expected to accompany the coffin as it is moved along the Royal Mile to nearby St. Giles’ Cathedral. There, after a religious service, the queen’s coffin will rest to allow people to pay their respects. On Tuesday, it will be flown to London, where there will be more opportunities for Britons to bid farewell to their monarch before her funeral.
Outside Balmoral, where a steady stream of visitors have been paying their respects since Thursday, well-wishers have left bouquets of flowers and messages. In Edinburgh, the authorities have erected barriers along the Royal Mile, the route the coffin will take on Monday between the Palace of Holyroodhouse and St. Giles Cathedral.
