Three days following her death at Balmoral, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II begins her final journey on Sunday. His coffin must leave the Scottish castle for Edinburgh, before his solemn return to London on Tuesday for his state funeral on September 19.
The departure from Balmoral, her residence where the monarch loved to spend the summer, is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. (11:00 a.m. in Switzerland). The hearse is due to arrive by road in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, around 4 p.m., following a journey of almost 300 kilometers.
A large crowd is expected on the route of the funeral procession, to greet one last time the one who had reigned for 70 years and 7 months, a familiar and reassuring presence, but still mysterious, having passed through times and crises imperturbable.
The crowd was asked not to throw flowers as the convoy passed, so as not to disturb the precise layout of the last trip of the 96-year-old sovereign, much loved in the United Kingdom.
Edinburgh at night
The hearse will first stop in Ballater, the village very close to the castle, then in Aberdeen and Dundee before reaching Edinburgh. The coffin will spend the night there in the throne room of Holyroodhouse, the official royal residence in Scotland.
On Saturday, Buckingham Palace confirmed that the state funeral would take place on September 19 at Westminster Abbey in London, a mecca for royal weddings, coronations and burials for nearly a millennium. It was there that the one who was still only Princess Elizabeth had married in November 1947 to 21-year-old Philip Mountbatten. This is where she was crowned on June 2, 1953.
Dignitaries from around the world are expected there for the funeral, including US President Joe Biden.
Tens of thousands of people are also expected to pay their last respects to him at the Palace of Westminster, where his coffin will rest from September 14 to 19, before the funeral which will begin at 10:00 GMT on the 19th, a public holiday in the United Kingdom.
/ATS
