Young students waited patiently for hours alongside retirees and tourists from around the world who had changed their plans to be there. At points, the hordes were 15 people deep. “It’s so heartbreaking,” said Laura Lang of Georgia, USA, as the group finally passed. “Look, I know the queen is ‘Britain’. But she’s the queen of the world, right?” A spontaneous wave of applause followed as the hearse moved down the Royal Mile, past St Giles’ Cathedral, the High Kirk of Scotland, where a 24-hour vigil is due to begin on Monday evening. All updates are live as the Queen’s coffin lies in repose in Edinburgh and ceremonies to crown Charles as King take place across the UK Watching the scene in the city’s Parliament Square, a statue of the fifth Duke of Buccleuch. He would have recognized many of the ceremonies we have all witnessed in days gone by because the 1800s were a part of them. “It was very emotional. We were very happy to be here,” said Patricia Parker, who is on holiday from Northampton. “I just thought it was so royal and precise. We’d never been to Scotland before.” Read more: A ‘selfless monarch’ who made Britain proud ‘Sadness is the price we pay for love’. The Queen in her own words Image: The Fifth Duke of Buccleuch watched from his seat outside St Giles’ Cathedral The rain held off until the gale passed as preparations continued for the service of reflection to be held in the cathedral on Monday evening. A fanfare could be heard from the kirk doors – probably the state trumpeters in rehearsal. On the rooftops, police snipers watched with binoculars, while an explosives-detecting spaniel ran around the television stands. As the inevitable rain began to fall, the crowds headed in one direction: to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where the Queen’s coffin now rests.
