Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin transported through Scotland: ‘An extraordinary woman’

Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin is passing through the rugged Scottish countryside Sunday on a final journey from her beloved summer estate Balmoral Castle to London, with mourners quietly lining roads and some tossing flowers to honor the monarch who died after 70 years on the throne.

The hearse drove past piles of bouquets and other tributes as it led a seven-car cortege from Balmoral, where the queen died Thursday, for a six-hour trip through Scottish towns to Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh. The late queen’s coffin was draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland and topped with a wreath made of flowers from the estate, including sweet peas, one of the queen’s favorites.

“A sad and poignant moment as Her Majesty, The Queen leaves her beloved Balmoral for the final time,” the first minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon tweeted. “Today, as she makes her journey to Edinburgh, Scotland will pay tribute to an extraordinary woman.”

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Crowds lined parts of the route as the nation mourns its longest-reigning monarch, the only one most Britons have ever known. In the Scottish village of Ballater, where residents regard the royal family as neighbors, hundreds of people watched as the hearse it passed.

“She meant such a lot to people in this area. People were crying, it was amazing to see,” said Victoria Pacheco.

In each town and village, the procession was met with similar muted scenes of respect. People stood mostly in silence; some clapped politely, others pointed their phone cameras.

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Before reaching the Scottish capital, the cortege is traveling through locations laden with House of Windsor history including Dyce, where in 1975 the queen formally opened the U.K.’s first North Sea oil pipeline, and Fife near St. Andrews University, where her grandson William, now the Prince of Wales, studied and met his future wife, Catherine.

In Ballater, the Rev. David Barr said locals consider the royals as “neighbors” and try to treat them as locals when they spend summers in the Scottish Highlands.

When Elizabeth arrived at her estate, the royal part of her mostly stayed outside, he said. “She was able to be a wife, a loving wife, a loving mum, a loving gran and then later on a loving great-gran – and aunty – and be normal.”

Elizabeth Taylor of Aberdeen had tears in her eyes after the hearse passed through Ballater.

“It was very emotional. It was respectful,” she said. “She certainly gave service to this country, even up until a few days before her death.”

On Monday, the queen’s coffin will be taken to nearby St. Giles’ Cathedral, where it will remain until Tuesday, when it will be flown to London. The coffin will be moved from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state until a state funeral at Westminster Abbey on Sept. 19.

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President Biden praises Queen Elizabeth II on anniversary of 9/11 

While marking the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President Joe Biden paid tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth II for her support of the United States on that fateful day.

In a speech at the Pentagon, Biden cited the queen’s message to the U.S. shortly after the 9/11 attacks: “Grief is the price we pay for love.”

Earlier Sunday, Biden said he has not yet spoken to King Charles III since the death of his mother.

“I’ve spoken to him many times but I haven’t spoken to him since he’s become king,” Biden told reporters as he left Delaware to return to Washington for the 9/11 commemoration.

Biden is scheduled to travel to London to attend the queen’s funeral.

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King Charles III to be formally proclaimed new monarch in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

The queen’s solemn drive through Scotland comes a day after the queen’s eldest son was formally proclaimed the new monarch – King Charles III – at a pomp-filled accession ceremony steeped in ancient tradition and political symbolism.

He will be proclaimed king in other nations of the United Kingdom – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and in towns across the country Sunday. 

Even as he mourned Elizabeth, Charles was getting down to work. He was meeting at Buckingham Palace with the secretary-general and other representatives of the Commonwealth, a group of nations that grapples with affection for the queen and lingering bitterness over their own colonial legacies, ranging from slavery to corporal punishment in African schools to looted artifacts held in British institutions.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who had started laying the groundwork for an Australian republic after elections in May, said Sunday that now was the time not for a change but for paying tribute to the late queen.

India, a former British colony, observed a day of state mourning, with flags lowered to half-staff on all government buildings throughout the country.

Contributing: David Jackson, USA TODAY