A short while later, the hearse drove out of Balmoral's gates and toward the Scottish capital. After 70 years on the throne, the queen passed away on Thursday at the age of 96 at her summer home.
Digital Desk: In the first of several sombre activities building up to her funeral on September 19, throngs lined the roads as Queen Elizabeth's coffin started its six-hour journey from her residence in the Scottish Highlands to Edinburgh on Sunday.
Six gamekeepers loaded Elizabeth's oak casket into a hearse at 10 a.m. (0900 GMT), which had been in the ballroom of Balmoral Castle draped in the royal standard of Scotland and topped with a wreath of flowers.
A short while later, the hearse drove out of Balmoral's gates and toward the Scottish capital. After 70 years on the throne, the queen passed away on Thursday at the age of 96 at her summer home.
Tears, sadness, and loving tributes have been expressed in response to her passing not only by members of the queen's immediate family and many Britons, but also by people all around the world, reflecting her prominence on the international stage for seven decades.
Elizabeth Alexander, who was 69 years old and was born on the day the queen was crowned in 1953, was watching the coffin pass through the adjacent village of Ballater.
You never know how you're going to feel when you see it, she said, so I think it will be really emotional for everyone bidding farewell.
"It overwhelms me with sadness that she won't be among us; it's like losing a family member." When she was only 25 years old, on February 6, 1952, her father King George VI passed away, the queen ascended to the throne. One year later, she was crowned.
Princess Anne, the queen's daughter, will ride in the cortege as they leisurely travel from the distant castle to Edinburgh, where the coffin will be carried to the throne room of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
The first in a sequence of activities leading up to the state funeral in London is the slow cortege. In the days following Elizabeth's passing, tens of thousands of people have congregated at royal residences to leave floral tributes and pay their respects.
At a ceremony on Saturday, her son King Charles remarked, "I know how terribly you, the entire nation, and I guess I may say the whole world - sympathise with me in the irreparable loss we have all endured."
Despite being formally installed as the new monarch at the event, Charles ascended to the throne immediately after his mother's passing.
There was astonishment at the announcement, even though Elizabeth's death was not entirely unexpected given her age, the fact that her health had been declining, and the fact that her husband of 73 years, Prince Philip, had passed away the previous year.
Her grandson Prince William, who is now the heir to the throne, said to a well-wisher on Saturday as he greeted people at Windsor castle, "We all thought she was unbeatable."
FUNERAL
According to official announcements, Elizabeth's funeral will be held at Westminster Abbey in London, and September 19 will be a national holiday in the United Kingdom. Although the event's specifics and the attendees haven't been made public, US President Joe Biden announced he will be attending.
Her coffin will be flown to London first, and then it will be carried from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where it will lie in state for four days, with a solemn procession.
More than 200,000 people lined up in 2002 to pay their respects to Elizabeth's mother while her casket lay in state, and according to aides, millions may want to make a visit.
Unsurprisingly, there will be a lot of people there, a representative for Prime Minister Liz Truss told reporters.
King Charles and Truss will visit the four countries of the United Kingdom together in the coming days. Truss' selection as prime minister on Tuesday was the queen's final official act.
Charles, 73, is now the 41st king or queen in a dynasty that dates back to William the Conqueror, a Norman king who conquered England in 1066.
In addition to the United Kingdom, he also serves as the monarch and head of state for 14 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.
The royal family has had a difficult couple of years, which included the passing of Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, last year. Elizabeth's death has brought an end to that.
After a catastrophic TV appearance in which he had planned to redeem his name over his friendship with the late American billionaire and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew, the late queen's second son and rumoured favourite child, resigned from royal duties in 2019.
In 2020, her grandson Prince Harry and his wife Meghan left the royal family and relocated to California.
Since then, Harry and Meghan have become estranged from the rest of the family, with Harry and brother William reportedly scarcely communicating. But when they showed up together with their wives on Saturday to greet the crowds outside Windsor Castle, it looked that their grandmother's passing had helped to mend the divide.
It is to be noted that a royal source described it as an important show of unity at an incredibly difficult time for the family.
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