Thousands wait in long queues outside St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland, to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II. In the evening the coffin is transferred to London.
Mourners from across Scotland and Britain have already queued for miles into the night to say goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022). They want to pay their last respects to the closed coffin kept at St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh. Further report as “Mail Online”Dozens had also traveled from London, believing it would be easier to see the Queen in Scotland as a 30-hour queue was predicted in the English capital.
“I was surprised how much the news affected me”
A London mourner told a British newspaper that she traveled some 1,300km because she felt “strange” without the Queen. The sight of the coffin is “surreal” and “one of the most emotional moments of my life”.
At 2:30 a man who joined his stepdaughter at the back of the queue explained: “We wanted to say goodbye to the boss. I’m in the military, I work on submarines. I was shocked by how much the news hit me. I Didn’t know him personally, but I met him as a kid. It affected me a lot, it was quite a shock.”
A couple who queued after 3 a.m. said: “We tried to queue overnight to avoid the crowd – to no avail”.
Thousands of people came to the coffin on Monday evening as the new King Charles III. (73) and his three siblings stood with their heads bowed in silent devotion around Her Majesty’s Okan coffin (the “vigilance of the princes” ceremony).
The coffin is taken to London in the evening
The Queen, who died on Thursday (8/9) at her Scottish country home, Balmoral Castle, is staying in the Scottish capital until the coffin is shipped from Edinburgh Airport to London at 6pm on Tuesday. The funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September.
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