“I took two deep breaths and walked in. I bowed to the coffin and walked out”says Sheila, military uniform on her shoulders, her medals and those of her father on her chest. “It’s a way to bring the family back with me”explains the one who waited all day Monday, September 12 to enter Saint-Gilles Cathedral, in Edinburgh, and pay a last tribute to the one who was also “his boss” when she was in the army: Elizabeth II.
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The Queen’s coffin, which arrived in Edinburgh on Sunday, was indeed escorted from the Royal Palace of Holyroodouse to the city’s cathedral on Monday by the new King Charles III, surrounded by his siblings. There, a mass took place, broadcast on a giant screen in a city park, before the cathedral was opened to the public. The Scots will parade all night in front of the coffin, guarded by four royal archers and above which sits the crown of Scotland, before it sets off for London on Tuesday.
There are already quite a few people this morning near St. Giles Cathedral and along the road to Holyroodhouse. Yet the start of the procession is only in 4 hours #QueenElizabethII #KingCharlesIII #Scotland @franceinfo @franceinfoplus pic.twitter.com/SF4CFMbJGO
— Theo U. (@theo_uhrt) September 12, 2022
To hope to be among the first, you had to be there very early: Sheila arrived around 7 am on Monday morning, more than ten hours of waiting. “And I’ll wait twice as long, just to walk one last time near Her Majestyshe assumes. It was a great honour.” Jane and Paul drove four hours to arrive in Edinburgh and the wait is not a problem for them either:
“She sacrificed her whole life for the country, we can give her a day.”
Jane and Paulat franceinfo
Christel also waited all day for a few minutes inside the cathedral and a few seconds in front of the coffin. She wanted “pay your respects to the queen one last time”. “It’s a moment I will never forget”, says this Scottish woman. Ann walks out of the cathedral right after her and qualifies the moment “unreal”. “I have no words, it’s… You know, I think theEpod did it very professionally for the last few days on the territory”she thinks, sobs in her voice, her throat tight.
“I was able to thank her for her years of service and give a final salute“, adds Alan a little further on, also among the first to have been able to approach the royal coffin. Everyone in the line remembers an image of the Queen. For him, it will be her eternal smile, when others prefer to remembering her dignity at her husband’s funeral.Some have an anecdote to tell, from a simple glance to a casual discussion with the monarch about horse riding.
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All of these early risers were joined at the end of the day by those who attended the Queen’s coffin procession in the afternoon, creating a huge queue in the heart of Edinburgh. More than two kilometers long, it crossed half of the city at the end of the afternoon. Helen and Gary, born “the year of his coronation”, are they rather towards the end of the line, but that will not discourage them. The couple is ready to wait a large part of the night for this queen “whom they respected a lot”. So they have planned everything: in their backpack, energy bars and cake, details Helen mischievously.
They have adopted another strategy: Harvey, Paul, Steven and Ronnie live near Glasgow. These “loyalists” came by train Monday morning to witness the arrival of Charles III and then the procession to the cathedral. Then they went home and plan to come back in the middle of the night, to avoid queuing as much as possible: “We might have to wait an hour or two but that’s okay.” Upon hearing the news, it was 20-year-old Harvey who was the most “devastated” . “She was like a member of the family, she has always been there. And she is a role model for many”says this young Scot.
Not far away are Harvey, Paul, Steven and Ronnie. Those who call themselves “loyalists” are happy to be there to see the new king and pay their last respects to Queen Elizabeth II
“Charles has said and done everything right since he became king,” Paul said. pic.twitter.com/abLPWzMJWj
— Theo U. (@theo_uhrt) September 12, 2022
Even after her death, Elizabeth II will therefore have managed to gather huge crowds in Scotland, while the country is questioning its independence. And the length of that queue says a lot about the affection the Scottish people had for her. This is perhaps one more record for a queen who already holds so many. It is certainly, from France, one more mystery in this very special relationship that the British maintain with the one who was their Queen for 70 years, and to whom they say goodbye as they would with a member of their family. .