LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin made its way through the rugged Scottish countryside Sunday on a final journey from her beloved summer estate of Balmoral Castle in London, with mourners quietly lining the streets and some to throw flowers to honor the monarch who died afterwards.  70 years on the throne.
The hearse passed piles of flowers and other tributes as it led a seven-car convoy from Balmoral, where the queen died on Thursday, on a six-hour journey through Scottish towns to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.  The late Queen’s coffin was draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland and topped with a wreath made of flowers from the estate, including the sweet pea, one of the Queen’s favourites.
“A sad and poignant moment as Her Majesty The Queen leaves her beloved Balmoral for the last time,” Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted.  “Today, as she makes her journey to Edinburgh, Scotland will pay tribute to an extraordinary woman.”
Crowds lined parts of the route as the nation mourns its longest-serving monarch, the only one most Britons have ever known.  In the Scottish village of Ballater, where residents consider the royal family neighbors, hundreds of people watched in silence and some threw flowers in front of the hearse as it passed.
“It meant so much to the people in this area.  People were crying, it was amazing to see,” said Victoria Pacheco, a hostel manager.
In every town and village the cars passed, they were met with similar subdued scenes of respect.  People mostly stood in silence.  some clapped politely, others pointed their phone cameras at passing cars.
Before arriving in the Scottish capital, the cortege travels down what is essentially a royal memory lane – passing sites steeped in House of Windsor history, including Dyce, where in 1975 the Queen officially opened the UK’s first North Sea oil pipeline Basilio and Fife near St.  Andrews University, where her grandson William, now the Prince of Wales, studied and met his future wife, Catherine.
Sunday’s official drive in Scotland comes a day after the Queen’s first-born son was officially named the new monarch – King Charles III – in a lavish accession ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism.
“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 — and in cities across the country on Sunday.  Earlier, proclamations were made in other parts of the Commonwealth – the group of former colonies of the British Empire – including Australia and New Zealand.
In New Zealand’s capital Wellington, the British monarch’s representative, Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, said: “On behalf of all New Zealanders, I extend to King Charles our faith and support and our wishes for a long and happy reign ».
Even as he mourned his late mother, Charles began to work.  He met at Buckingham Palace with the Secretary-General and other representatives of the Commonwealth, a group of nations struggling with affection for the Queen and lingering bitterness over their own colonial legacies, which range from slavery to corporal punishment in African schools to looted objects held in British institutions.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had begun laying the groundwork for an Australian democracy after May’s election, said on Sunday that now was the time not for change but to pay tribute to the late queen.
India, a former British colony, observed a day of mourning, with flags flying at half-mast at all government buildings across the country.
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.  On Monday, it will be moved from Holyroodhouse to the nearby cathedral of St.  Giles, where he will remain until Tuesday, when he 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 Ballater, the Reverend David Barr said local people 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 comes in, she’s been able to be a wife, a loving wife, a loving mom, a loving grandmother and later a loving great-grandmother — and aunt — and be normal.”
Elizabeth Taylor, from Aberdeen, was teary-eyed after the hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin passed through Ballater.
“It was very touching.  It was respectful and it showed what they think of the Queen,” he said.  “She certainly gave service to this country even a few days before her death.”