Scots pay tribute to late Queen and welcome new King
The late Queen Elizabeth's coffin was taken along the Royal Mile in the Scottish capital Edinburgh on Monday in a silent and solemn procession watched by thousands of people paying their respects to Britain's longest-serving monarch.
The oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland and with a wreath of white flowers placed on top, was then carried into St. Giles Cathedral and the crown of Scotland laid on it.
While a grieving crowd - with many people in tears - stood outside, King Charles and other members of the royal family, as well as political leaders and dignitaries, attended a service of thanksgiving for the queen.
The coffin will lie in St Giles' Cathedral for an overnight vigil before being flown to London on Tuesday.
Queen Elizabeth died on Thursday in her holiday home at Balmoral, in the Scottish Highlands, at the age of 96 after a 70-year reign, plunging the nation into mourning even as it faces an economic crisis and a change of government.
The queen's coffin arrived from Balmoral on Sunday and stood overnight at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the monarch's official residence in Scotland.
A bagpipe lament was the only sound as kilted soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland bore the casket from the palace and placed it in the hearse for the short journey to the cathedral.
A gun salute boomed out from a battery on Edinburgh Castle when the hearse moved off and a single round was fired each minute of the procession up the historic street. Other than that there was just silence - except a brief shout from a heckler aimed at Prince Andrew.
Under a sunny sky, King Charles and his siblings - Anne, Andrew and Edward - walked slowly behind the hearse, while the Royal Company of Archers provided the guard of honour.
At the service, folk singer Karen Matheson sang a psalm in Gaelic, while other speakers paid tribute the late queen.
King Charles and his siblings held a silent vigil at the side of their mother Queen Elizabeth's coffin as it lay at rest in Edinburgh's historic cathedral with thousands queuing for hours to pay their respects to Britain's longest-serving monarch.
With their heads bowed, Charles, wearing a kilt, alongside sister Princess Anne and brothers Princes Andrew and Edward, stood solemnly for 10 minutes next to the coffin.
They left the city's St. Giles Cathedral to applause from onlookers.
Mourners, some weeping, and others with heads bowed or curtsying walked slowly past the coffin after having waited patiently for hours to be allowed into the cathedral.
On Tuesday, the coffin will be flown to London, where on Wednesday it will begin a period of lying in state until Sept. 19 - the day of Elizabeth's state funeral - on a catafalque at Westminster Hall.
Reuters
