Before the Queen’s coffin was carried from St Giles’ Cathedral to a standing ovation from onlookers from soldiers of the Royal Regiment of Scotland on Tuesday, a lone piper playing the Flowers of the Woods was heard from its enclosure, where The Queen had rest for a little more than a day. Outside, two ranks of the Royal Archers, the monarch’s honor guard in Scotland, saluted, the two standards being lowered to the stone posts in the cathedral square. Before the coffin was lowered into the hearse, the Princess Royal had taken part in a short private service attended by Nicholas Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland. Alister Jack, Secretary to the UK Government for Scotland. and Alison Johnston, Speaker of the Scottish Parliament. The brief ceremony ended an unprecedented six-day farewell by Scots to the UK’s longest-reigning monarch, who died at Balmoral in Royal Deeside on Thursday, with members of her family by her side. With members of the public lining the route to Edinburgh Airport, Princess Anne accompanied the coffin to RAF Northolt and then to Buckingham Palace, where she will lie in repose in the Bow Room on Tuesday night. He will then be at Westminster Hall ahead of the Queen’s state funeral on September 19. Pallbearers from the Queen’s Color Squadron of the Royal Air Force carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, onto an aircraft at Edinburgh Airport. Photo: WPA/Getty Images Tens of thousands of people had queued in Edinburgh, some for five hours or more, to see the coffin as it lay draped in Scottish royal standards under the vaulted roof of the medieval cathedral, guarded around the clock by staff at the Royal Company of Archers, dressed in their usual dark green uniforms, white gloves and hats bearing eagle feathers. Dawn Davidson, 48, who was one of the last people to see the Queen laid to rest on Tuesday afternoon after she traveled from Glenrothes, said it was a “surreal” experience. “It can’t be anything else,” he said. “It’s just a moment in history. It was absolutely beautiful. “I admire her service to the country for 70 years, just a strong woman. I’m certainly not against rights, but the Queen was a special lady.” The Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, the moderator of the Church of Scotland, who had spent the weekend with the Queen at Balmoral shortly before she died, said Scotland had shown its capacity for low-key spectacle. “With the Queen’s genuine love for Scotland, I think she would have been absolutely delighted with the clear and dignified way in which the Scots came out to say goodbye,” he said. “More than that, they made a statement about how important it was to them. When we lose a mother or a father, it’s often only then that we realize how fundamental they were to our lives, and the same is true of the Queen.” Jayne Hopp, 53, who had traveled to Edinburgh from Peterborough for a friend’s 50th birthday, said as they approached St Giles the mood in the queue changed. There was an air of anticipation. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. “We’re surprised how we reacted to it,” he said. “But I felt compelled. I felt if I didn’t, I would be sorry. “Sometimes I feel like people need things to bring them together, especially with things going on in the world. We just met some great people in line. People are more generous in spirit when these things happen.” Jo Williams, who was one of the first to see the Queen laid to rest at St Giles’ on Monday, drove to Edinburgh from Manchester and had to rush to get a replacement electric wheelchair after hers broke down, but he said the effort was worth it. . “There was a lot of security of course, but when you got inside it felt really calm and dignified,” he said. “I felt rested but also emotional: it was like he was there.” Greenshields said the unique sequence of events faced by the royal family and Scotland with the Queen’s death at Royal Deeside offered a lesson in the social and political value of allowing all parts of the UK to experience significant events. Many well-wishers and mourners, including those who gathered in mass in the village of Ballater, nearer to Balmoral, who saw the Queen’s funeral procession 170 miles from Balmoral down the east coast of Scotland on Sunday, then watched the King Charles III walked behind his mother’s coffin on Monday, he had noted how important it was that Edinburgh was able to be a counterweight to the focus of major national events consistently in London. “There’s a lesson not just for Scotland, but the north of England, Yorkshire, that if we’re going to succeed in belonging together then each of us has to feel valued,” he said.
