Queen Elizabeth II death: Late monarch begins solemn final journey

Queen Elizabeth IIs coffin on Sunday left the Scottish retreat where she died as the late monarch embarked on her final journey with thousands of her mourning subjects expected to line the routeA hush fell over the gathered crowd as the cortege carrying the queens casket exited the gates of Balmoral Castle for Edinburgh at the start of an odyssey of mourning in the United Kingdom culminating in her state funeral in London on September 19Six groundskeepers had loaded the oak coffin draped with a Scottish Royal Standard and a floral wreath into the black hearse that was to wind its way slowly on a sixhour journey to Scotlands capitalSecurity escort vehicles and a mauve Bentley carrying the queens only daughter Princess Anne made up the cortege passing through a series of towns before reaching Edinburgh where it will rest for two days so people can pay tributeThe first glimpse of her coffin for a grieving nation came a day after her son Charles III was formally proclaimed king and after her warring grandsons William and Harry and their wives Kate and Meghan briefly reunited for a walkaboutThe king himself will travel to Edinburgh on Monday for a prayer service before the body of the queen who died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96 is flown to London on TuesdayBritains longestserving monarch will then lie in state for four days which is expected to draw at least a million people ahead of a funeral set to be watched worldwide and attended by numerous heads of stateIts the end of an era its quite a big moment for the country and the world said Nia GrayWannell a scientist who brought her two children to Balmoral to pay their respectsIt felt like it would be worth comingAlso ReadKing Charles III expresses his love for Harry and MeghanShow of unityWhile Charles accession has pushed Britain into what newspapers have called the new Carolean era Britain and the royal family are still coming to terms with the end of the Elizabethan agePrince William broke his silence with an emotional tribute to his beloved Grannie on SaturdayShe was by my side at my happiest moments And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life said William who has now become the Prince of WalesBut the queens death also brought a surprise show of unity from William 40 and his younger brother Harry 37 when they emerged with their wives to speak to wellwishers outside Windsor Castle near LondonThe sight of the two couples who have barely seen each other since 2020 together even if they separated to speak and shake hands with different sides of the cheering crowds will likely spark rumours of a reconciliationPictures of the four were splashed on the covers of Sundays newspapersReunited for granny read the Sunday Mirrors headline while the Telegraph ran with Reunited in sorrow and the Sun with All 4 OneThe Sunday Times focussed on the apparent frostiness with the headline Warring Windsors awkward truce to honour the QueenSenior royals including the queens children Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Edward and their families also inspected flowers outside Balmoral where the queens body lay in the ballroomMany many peopleThe symbolism of the queens last journey will be heavy for Scotland a nation with deep royal links but where there is also a strong independence movement intent on severing the centuriesold union with the United KingdomDedicated viewing points are being set up along the route although mourners will be asked not to throw flowers at the convoy as it passesWe anticipate many many people will be keen to pay their respects First Minister Nicola Sturgeon saidThe queens coffin will be taken to the Holyroodhouse Palace the monarchs official residence in Scotland where it will rest for a dayKing Charles and other royals will on Monday take part in a procession to convey her coffin along Edinburghs Royal Mile to St Giles CathedralThe following day the coffin will be flown by Royal Air Force jet to Northolt airfield near London and driven to Buckingham Palace Then on Wednesday it will be moved to Westminster Hall to lie in stateKing Charles will also visit Northern Ireland and Wales in a show of national unity accompanied by British Prime Minister Liz Truss who was only appointed by the late queen on TuesdayHe has seen his popularity recover since the death of his former wife Diana Princess of Wales in a 1997 car crash but he takes the throne at a moment of deep anxiety in Britain over the spiralling cost of living and international instability caused by the war in UkraineInspiring exampleCharles vowed at the formal Accession Council at St Jamess Palace on Saturday that he would strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set by his mother during her lifetime of serviceThe centuriesold tradition was televised live for the first time featuring a fanfare of trumpets and a court official wearing a feathered hat to declare him king from a palace balconyThousands of people have gathered outside Buckingham Palace and other royal residences in recent days to lay flowers and messages of condolence or simply to experience history in the makingBut officials expect far more people to pay their respects while the queen lies in state before the televised funeral service at Westminster Abbey oppositeThe funeral for the queen who came to the throne aged just 25 in 1952 will be attended by national leaders including US President Joe Biden Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and possibly Japanese Emperor NaruhitoHer record 70 years on the throne were a constant during a turbulent time for Britain from a world of postwar deprivation and the loss of its empire to more recent traumas like the coronavirus pandemicCharless coronation an elaborate ritual steeped in tradition and history will take place in the same historic surroundings of Westminster Abbey as it has for centuries on a date to be fixed