The Queen’s coffin has left her beloved Scottish retreat Balmoral, as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch begins her final journey to Westminster Abbey for her state funeral. Three days after her death at the age of 96 on 8 September, Her Majesty’s coffin is being conveyed by road from Aberdeenshire to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, 175 miles away in Edinburgh, where it will rest in the Throne Room overnight.
It is the first part of a four-day journey to London, ahead of the Queen’s state funeral, which will be held on Monday 19 September. Mourners were lining the streets from early on Sunday morning for the chance to pay their respects, as the Queen’s last journey got underway. The hearse drove through the gates of the Scottish estate shortly after 10am, giving the public its first sighting of the monarch’s coffin. It was draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland and decorated with a simple wreath of white flowers. The wreath includes dhalias, sweet peas, phlox, white heather, and pine fir, all picked from the Balmoral Estate.
Despite the crowds gathered in Ballater, just a few miles from Balmoral, a pin-drop silence descended on the main street as Her Majesty’s hearse approached. See the procession in the pictures below.
A man sits on a bench in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, as he waits to view the Queen’s cortège.
A tribute at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh on 11 September.
Members of the public gather beside a makeshift memorial in Ballater, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II’s hearse.
On Sunday September 11, the public saw the Queen’s coffin for the first time, as it was conveyed to Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh.
The Queen’s coffin, draped in the Royal Standard, departs Balmoral.
The Queen’s only daughter, Princess Anne, accompanied her mother’s coffin on the first part of its journey from Balmoral.
The Queen’s hearse approaches the closest town to Balmoral.
Members of the public bow their heads as the Queen’s coffin drives past.
The crowd was silent as the cortège drove slowly through Ballater, a community with close links to the royal family.
The hearse passes by Glenmuick Church, Ballater.
Many members of the public chose to dress in black to witness the Queen’s final journey.
The simple wreath was made using flowers freshly picked from the grounds of Balmoral.
Flags are lowered as the hearse passes.
Onlookers watch as the Queen’s funeral cortège passes through Banchory, Aberdeenshire.
A car carrying the Princess Royal was among the convoy following the hearse.
Hundreds of people gathered to see the hearse.
Crowds watch as the funeral cortège makes its way over the King George VI Bridge in Aberdeen, crossing the River Dee.
Outside St Giles’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, where the Queen’s coffin will lie in state on September 12, the proclamation of the new King was taking place.
Members of the Royal Regiment of Scotland attend the proclamation of King Charles III in Edinburgh, as the Queen’s coffin was making its way to the city.
The procession makes its way over the Queensferry Crossing, which the Queen declared officially open five years ago.
Crowds lined the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on both sides to see the Queen’s coffin as it made its way to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The procession passes Mercat Cross in Edinburgh.
Members of the public throng Edinburgh’s Royal Mile.
The Queen’s coffin arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The Princess Royal curtsies as her mother’s coffin is carried into Holyroodhouse, the monarch’s official residence in Scotland.
Originally published in Vogue.co.uk
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