Queen Elizabeth II began her last journey on Sunday: her coffin, leaving the estate of Balmoral in Scotland where she died, joined Edinburgh during a procession greeted with emotion by tens of thousands of people.
Reflecting the emotion that has gripped the United Kingdom since the death of the longest reigning monarch in her history, a compact crowd welcomed the body in the Scottish capital, which passed through the gates of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Scottish royal residence, shortly before 4.30 p.m. after slowly covering 300 kilometers in six hours.
The coffin must spend the night in the throne room before a religious ceremony on Monday, which King Charles III will attend, one kilometer from Holyroodhouse, in Saint-Gilles Cathedral, where the remains will be transferred.
And on Tuesday, she will join London, before the national funeral on September 19.
The oak coffin, which left the Balmoral estate shortly after 10 a.m. to applause, was covered with the Scottish royal standard on which had been laid a wreath of white heather, dahlias and sweet peas, from the castle gardens where the queen breathed her last on Thursday.
In the procession, Princess Anne, daughter of the late sovereign, who had taken her place with her husband Tim Laurence in a limousine following the royal hearse.
“Thank her”
Tens of thousands of people had gathered along the route, some in mourning, others crushing a tear or bowing their heads as the convoy passed, to salute one last time the one who had reigned 70 years and 7 months , a familiar and reassuring presence, but always mysterious, having crossed times and crises imperturbably.
Scottish Independence First Minister Nicola Sturgeon paid tribute to “an extraordinary woman”.
“Her Majesty has selflessly given her life and time to us. Paying homage to her in a traditional way was a way of thanking her for all she has done,” Mark Lindley-Highfield, a 47-year-old academic who arrived at Balmoral from Inverness at two o’clock, told AFP. north by car. For the occasion, he wears a black tail coat and a top hat.
Along the route, some threw flowers at the convoy.
His funeral will take place on September 19 at Westminster Abbey in London, a mecca for royal weddings, coronations and burials for nearly a millennium.
It was there that the one who was still only the young Princess Elizabeth had married in November 1947 to 21-year-old Philip Mountbatten. It was also there that she was crowned on June 2, 1953 at the age of 27, 16 months after becoming queen on the death of her father King George VI on February 6, 1952.
Immutable Ritual
Dignitaries from around the world are expected, including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as well as many royalty.
Hundreds of thousands of people should also pay their last respects to him at the Palace of Westminster, where his coffin will rest from September 14 to 19, before being transferred to the Abbey for the funeral which will begin at 10 a.m., declared a public holiday in UK.
After being proclaimed king on Saturday in London, King Charles III was proclaimed king again on Saturday in the other three constituent countries of the United Kingdom, during ceremonies with an immutable ritual, in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Twenty-one cannon shots were fired in the three towns.
On Saturday, during the proclamation ceremony at Saint James’s Palace in London, he said he was “deeply aware of this great heritage, of the duties and the heavy responsibilities of sovereignty, which are now transmitted to me”, after welcoming the reign of his mother “unsurpassed in duration, devotion and devotion”.
“In assuming these responsibilities, I will endeavor to follow the inspiring example given to me,” he added.
Her son William, now heir to the throne and Prince of Wales, also paid a moving tribute to his grandmother.
“She was by my side in my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life. I knew this day was coming, but it will take time to get used to the reality of life without Grandma,” an “extraordinary queen,” he said on Saturday.
Negotiations between William and Harry
The prince then created a surprise by going with his wife Kate, but also his brother Harry and his wife Meghan to admire the flowers placed in front of Windsor Castle in tribute to Elizabeth II, where the highly applauded quartet took a long bath. crowd.
The two couples are notoriously cold. While Harry and Meghan are now settled in California, they hadn’t been seen together in public for more than two years.
They all left in the same car, but the faces were closed, the interactions minimal.
According to the newspaper The Timesit had taken “extended negotiations” behind the scenes between the two camps, delaying their appearance by 45 minutes.
Increasingly frail in recent months, Queen Elizabeth had devoted her life to the monarchy. On Tuesday, she was still working, receiving in audience the resigning Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, whom she had asked to create a new government.
The monarch had, however, remained at Balmoral for these audiences, too weak to travel.
Her last photo shows her receiving Liz Truss, smiling and leaning on a cane.
His death was announced Thursday at 6:30 p.m. local time.