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By Andrew MacAskill and Lindsay (NYSE:) Dunsmuir
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – Queen Elizabeth’s coffin will probably be flown to London on Tuesday on the finish of 24 hours of mendacity at relaxation in Edinburgh’s historic cathedral, the place her son King Charles and his three siblings held a silent vigil.
Charles was joined by his sister Anne and brothers Andrew and Edward for the ten minute vigil on Monday at St Giles’ Cathedral, the place they stood, heads bowed, on the 4 sides of the coffin whereas members of the general public filed previous to pay their respects.
Whereas a bagpipe lament had been the one sound as kilted troopers bore the casket earlier within the day, the 4 royals left the vigil in darkness to the sound of applause from mourners lining the road.
“I used to be awed by the truth that I used to be within the cathedral with Queen Elizabeth, who I’ve seemed as much as all my life,” mentioned Marie Claire Cross, 55. “It was superior within the true sense of the phrase and it was so unhappy.”
Frances Thain, 63, mentioned she had been shocked to see the 4 youngsters of the late queen as she entered the cathedral. “I used to be simply overwhelmed as a result of there have been a lot to soak up,” she mentioned.
Elizabeth died on Thursday in her vacation residence at Balmoral, within the Scottish Highlands, on the age of 96 after a 70-year reign, plunging the nation into mourning.
Charles, 73, who mechanically grew to become king of the UK and 14 different realms together with Australia, Canada, Jamaica and New Zealand, is travelling to the 4 elements of the UK earlier than the funeral, and can go to Northern Eire on Tuesday.
In Belfast he’ll meet senior politicians and religion leaders and attend a service on the metropolis’s St Anne’s Cathedral earlier than returning to London.
Tens of 1000’s of mourners have turned out in Scotland, with deep crowds gathering from the early hours to watch the processions. In London, large numbers of individuals have left flowers and messages within the grounds of royal parks.
The queen’s coffin will depart Scotland for the primary time since her dying when it’s flown to London within the night after which pushed to Buckingham Palace.
On Wednesday, it will likely be taken on a gun carriage as a part of a grand navy procession to Westminster Corridor the place a interval of mendacity in state will start till Sept. 19 – the day of the funeral.
Members of the general public will probably be allowed to course of previous the coffin, which will probably be lined by the Royal Commonplace flag with the sovereign’s Orb and Sceptre positioned on prime, for twenty-four hours a day till the morning of the funeral.
The dying of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch has drawn tears and heat tributes, not simply from the queen’s personal shut household and throughout Britain, but in addition from across the globe – a mirrored image of her presence on the world stage for seven a long time.
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