The coffin of Elizabeth II, which left the Balmoral estate to join Edinburgh, attracted tens of thousands of people Sunday, along Scottish roads, sometimes moved to tears.
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. (3:30 p.m. GMT) after having slowly traveled 300 kilometers in six hours.
The coffin, draped in the Scottish royal standard on which had been laid a wreath of white heather, was carried inside the palace in front of three of his four children: Edward, Andrew and Anne, who curtseyed as they passed of his late mother. He must spend the night in the throne room before a religious ceremony on Monday, which will be attended by King Charles III, one kilometer from Holyroodhouse, in Saint-Gilles Cathedral.
The population will then have a first opportunity to meditate before the remains of the one who reigned for 70 years and 7 months, a familiar and reassuring presence even on the stamps and banknotes, but still mysterious, having gone through times and crises imperturbable.
“Seeing it pass helps you accept the fact that it’s the end of an era,” Rob Parsons, 28, who came from the north of England to witness the passage of the coffin, told AFP.
Also present, Lucy Hampshire describes “a strong feeling of loss, but also an impression of a page that turns when we saw the coffin pass”. “He was a pillar for his support and his compassion when sometimes we did not know what to say”, as during the confinement linked to the Covid-19, during which the queen had comforted the British in a touching speech on television.
“It was very moving, he’s a wonderful person, it’s very sad. I had a lot of respect for her”, observes Theresa Brown after having “quickly seen” the funeral procession.
The latter had left the Balmoral estate shortly after 10:00 a.m. (9:00 a.m. GMT) to applause. Along the route, some threw flowers at the convoy.
Among the few dissenting voices in Scotland, led by an independentist government and where support for the monarchy is in the minority, a woman was arrested in Edinburgh, to applause, because she was carrying a sign “Abolish the monarchy”.
– Cannons for Charles –
The remains of Elizabeth II will be flown to London on Tuesday. 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.
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 are also expected to 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 10:00 GMT and mark the end of ‘a time of national mourning and a historic transition in the 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, 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”.
Her son William, now heir to the throne and Prince of Wales, also paid a moving tribute to his grandmother: “I knew this day was coming, but it’s going to take me some time to get used to the reality of the life without Grandma”, an “extraordinary queen”.
– 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 acclaimed 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 Times newspaper, it had taken “extended negotiations” behind the scenes between the two camps, delaying their appearance by 45 minutes.
More and more 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 at 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. GMT) on Thursday.
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