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    Queen Elizabeth II embarks on solemn final journey

    BALLATER, UNITED KINGDOM (AFP) – Thousands of mourners lined the route to pay their respects as Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin yesterday headed from the Scottish retreat where she died to Edinburgh on the first leg of her sombre final journey.

    A hush fell over the gathered crowd as the cortege carrying the queen’s casket exited the gates of Balmoral Castle at the start of an odyssey of mourning in the United Kingdom that will culminate in her state funeral in London on September 19.

    Some well-wishers threw flowers or applauded, while others were in tears as the long convoy led by a black hearse wound its way slowly on a six-hour journey to Scotland’s capital, where it will stay for two days.

    Six groundskeepers had loaded the oak coffin – draped with a Scottish Royal Standard and a floral wreath – into the hearse that was followed by a Bentley carrying the queen’s only daughter Princess Anne.

    The first glimpse of the queen’s coffin for a grieving nation came a day after her son Charles III was formally proclaimed king, and after her grandsons William and Harry, and their wives Kate and Meghan, briefly reunited for a walkabout.

    The king himself will travel to Edinburgh today for a service, before the body of the queen, who died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96, is flown to London tomorrow.

    Members of the public look at an empty hearse travelling in the convoy behind the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II down Ballater. PHOTO: AFP
    Members of the public line the streets as the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II passes through on its journey to Edinburgh from Balmoral in Scotland. PHOTO: AP

    Britain’s longest-serving monarch will lie in state for four days which is expected to draw at least a million people, ahead of a funeral set to be watched worldwide and attended by numerous heads of state.

    The symbolism of the queen’s last journey will be heavy for Scotland – a nation with deep royal links, but where there is also a strong independence movement.

    “A sad and poignant moment as Her Majesty, The Queen leaves her beloved Balmoral for the final time,” Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wrote on Twitter.

    The queen’s coffin will be taken to the Holyroodhouse Palace, the monarch’s official residence in Scotland, where it will rest for a day.

    King Charles – who was formally proclaimed monarch in Scotland at a pomp-filled ceremony yesterday – and other royals will today take part in a procession to convey her coffin along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to St Giles’ Cathedral.

    Tomorrow the coffin will be flown by Royal Air Force jet to Northolt airfield near London, and driven to Buckingham Palace. Then, on Wednesday, it will be moved to Westminster Hall to lie in state.

    King Charles will also visit Northern Ireland and Wales in a show of national unity. The new monarch will be joined at memorial services by British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was only appointed by the late queen on Tuesday.

    Charles takes the throne at a moment of deep anxiety in Britain over the spiralling cost of living and international instability caused by the war in Ukraine.

    While Charles’ accession has pushed Britain into a new era, Britain and the royal family are still coming to terms with the end of the Elizabethan age. Prince William broke his silence with an emotional tribute to his beloved “Grannie” on Saturday.

    “She was by my side at my happiest moments. And she was by my side during the saddest days of my life,” said William, who has now become the Prince of Wales.

    Charles vowed at the formal Accession Council at St James’s Palace on Saturday that he would “strive to follow the inspiring example I have been set” by his mother during her “lifetime of service”.

    The centuries-old tradition was televised live for the first time, featuring a fanfare of trumpets and a court official wearing a feathered hat to declare him king.

    Thousands have gathered outside Buckingham Palace and other royal residences in recent days to lay flowers and messages of condolence.

    But officials expect far more people to pay their respects while the queen lies in state, before the televised funeral service at Westminster Abbey opposite.

    The funeral for the queen – who came to the throne aged just 25 in 1952 – will be attended by national leaders including United States President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and possibly Japanese Emperor Naruhito.

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