Tens of thousands of people lined up in Edinburgh to pay their final respects to Queen Elizabeth II before her coffin is flown to London, where the King’s Guard marched through the streets rehearsing for her funeral early Tuesday.
Mourners traveled from across the UK, bundled up against the chill in Scotland’s capital, and waited overnight for hours, some napping on benches or in camping chairs, just to catch a glimpse of the late monarch’s coffin at St. Giles’ Cathedral.
“We were desperate to be here to show our respects,” said Will Brehme, an engineer from Edinburgh, who arrived in the early hours of the morning with his partner and 20-month-old daughter sleeping in a baby carrier.
“It is a moment that will live with us forever. When you think that she worked all of her life for us it is the least we could do.”
Meanwhile, a solemn funeral rehearsal was held outside Buckingham Palace in London under the gaze of a few staunch royal watchers keeping vigil outside the royal residence.
Thousands of people queue up to file past Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin lying at St Giles’ Cathedral is Edinburgh late Monday. APThousands of soldiers in ceremonial uniforms participated in the somber rehearsal at around 4 a.m. local time, reported The Telegraph.
The dry run featured a gun carriage pulled by seven black horses with a black coffin mounted on top.
The carriage traced the route that it will take when the queen’s actual coffin is taken in a procession for the lying in state in Westminster Hall.
The monarch’s family, including King Charles III and his siblings, and senior staff, are expected to walk behind the coffin. During the practice run, its organizers had people stand in for the royals.
The Queen’s daughter, Princess Royal Anne, will accompany her mother’s coffin as it is moved on Tuesday from the cathedral in Edinburgh to the airport, from which it will be flown to London by a Royal Air Force plane.
Grenadier Guards, a unit of the Household Division Foot Guards, take part in a rehearsal of the ceremonial procession of Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, in London on September 13. AFP via Getty Images
Thousands of ceremonial troops march from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster as part of a dry run for Wednesday’s ceremonial procession. Getty Images
A gun carriage with a black coffin on top is drawn by seven black horses during Tuesday’s rehearsal REUTERSThe coffin will be met at Buckingham Palace by the new King and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, following their return from a visit to Northern Ireland and a service at St. Anne’s Cathedral.
The coffin will remain in the Bow Room at Buckingham Palace overnight before being conveyed to Westminster Hall on Wednesday afternoon local time.
Between Wednesday and next Monday, members of the public will be allowed to process past the coffin, which will be covered by the Royal Standard flag with the sovereign’s Orb and Scepter placed on top, for 24 hours a day until the morning of the state funeral, which will take place at Westminster Abbey.
King Charles, 73, is currently traveling to the four parts of the United Kingdom, beginning with Northern Ireland, where mourners started to line the streets at Hillsborough Castle hours in advance.
A man walk past a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II decorating a street near Buckingham Palace in London. AP
Princess Anne, center, will accompany her mother’s coffin from the cathedral in Edinburgh to the airport on Tuesday. Getty ImagesHe arrived in Hillsborough on Tuesday from Scotland, where he followed the queen’s coffin up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and was joined by his siblings for a 10-minute vigil at St Giles’ Cathedral. They stood, heads bowed, at the four sides of the coffin while members of the public filed past.
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