By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Queen Elizabeth II commenced her final journey on Sunday when her coffin was moved from Balmoral Castle, on the country estate where she died, to Edinburgh, marking the beginning of a six-hour procession which will be the focus of Scotland’s farewell to the late monarch.
The oak coffin was carried from the castle’s ballroom to a waiting ambulance by six gamekeepers from the Balmoral estate, where the queen spent her summer vacations and for which she had a deep and long affection.
The departure from Balmoral, a remote outpost in Scottish countryside, marks the beginning of a period during which Britons will be able to pay respects to the queen before her funeral on Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey in London.
Crowds lined the roads on Sunday as the procession passed through small towns, with the queen’s wreath-covered coffin visible inside the hearse. In Ballater, a few bystanders threw flowers in the path of the vehicles as the town paid its silent and somber tribute.
The route will take the ambulance from Balmoral, via Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth, before the procession is scheduled to arrive at 4 p.m. at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the royal family’s Edinburgh residence.
Queen Elizabeth spent her final days at Balmoral, which underscores her close ties to Scotland, which, for two days, will be the central point of national mourning.
When it arrives in Edinburgh, the coffin will be greeted by a guard of honor and received with a royal salute before military bearers will carry it to the palace’s throne room.
On Monday afternoon, members of the royal family are expected to accompany the coffin as it is moved along the Royal Mile to nearby St. Giles’ Cathedral.
After a religious service, the queen’s coffin will rest to allow people to pay their respects. On Tuesday, it will be flown to London, where there will be more opportunities for Britons to bid farewell to their monarch before her funeral.
Outside Balmoral, where a steady stream of visitors have been paying their respects since Thursday, well-wishers have left bouquets of flowers and messages. In Edinburgh, the authorities have erected barriers along the Royal Mile, the route the coffin will take on Monday between the Palace of Holyroodhouse and St. Giles Cathedral.
