Six gamekeepers from Balmoral, the summer retreat where the Queen died on Thursday, carried the late sovereign’s oak coffin from the castle’s ballroom to a hearse to begin a six-hour, 280km journey through Scottish towns to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The seven-car motorcade passed piles of flowers and other tributes, while crowds lined part of the route as the nation mourned its longest-serving monarch, the only one most Britons have ever known. Early on Sunday, flowers and other tributes – a small Paddington bear toy, a hand-painted picture of the Queen – piled up outside the gates of Balmoral. Floral tributes are laid alongside a Paddington Bear toy outside Balmoral Castle in Ballater, Scotland, on Sunday, two days after Queen Elizabeth II died aged 96. (Paul Ellis/AFP/Getty Images) Sunday’s official drive in Scotland comes a day after the Queen’s eldest son was officially named the new monarch – King Charles III – in a lavish accession ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism.
“Deep awareness of this great heritage”
“I am deeply aware of this great heritage and the duties and heavy responsibilities of sovereignty that have now passed to me,” Charles said as he assumed the duties of monarch. He will be crowned king in other UK nations — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — on Sunday. Members of the public line the streets in Ballater, Scotland, where the hearse carrying Queen Elizabeth’s coffin will pass on its journey to Edinburgh on Sunday. (Andrew Milligan/The Associated Press) Even as he mourned his late mother, Charles began to work. He was meeting at Buckingham Palace with the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, the group of former colonies of the British Empire who fight fondly for the Queen and bitterly for their own colonial legacies. This ranges from slavery to corporal punishment in African schools to looted objects kept in British institutions. Amidst the grief that has enveloped the House of Windsor, there have been hints of a possible family reconciliation. Prince William and his brother Harry, along with their respective wives, Catherine, Princess of Wales and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, delighted mourners near Windsor Castle with a joint surprise on Saturday. The Queen’s coffin will make a round trip back to the capital. After leaving Balmoral, the hearse arrived in the first city, with thousands lining the streets in Aberdeen. On Monday, it will be moved from Holyroodhouse to nearby St Giles Cathedral, where it will remain until Tuesday, when it will be transferred to London. The coffin will be moved from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state until the funeral at Westminster Abbey on September 19. In the village of Ballater, near Balmoral, the Reverend David Barr said locals regard the royals as “neighbors” and try to treat them like locals when they spend summers in the Scottish Highlands. “When she comes here and goes through these gates, I think the royal part of her is mostly left out,” he said. “And as she came in, she was able to be a wife, a loving wife, a loving mom, a loving grandmother and then a loving great-grandmother – and aunt – and be normal.” WATCHES | Queen Elizabeth has died aged 96:
Queen Elizabeth has died aged 96
Queen Elizabeth, the longest-reigning monarch in British history, has died. CBC’s Margaret Evans takes a look at her life and legacy.
