As her mother’s coffin was being carried into the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Princess Anne upheld royal decorum by bowing deeply before the Queen.
The Princess Royal, 71, gave an emotional farewell as the coffin was brought into the castle. She had accompanied the cortege from Balmoral to Edinburgh today.
As she stood in line with the Queen’s kids and their spouses – Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, Prince Andrew, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex – Anne was obviously moved.
Sophie was seen reaching out to comfort Anne, who was by her mother’s bedside during her mother’s final moments at Balmoral on Thursday.
The couple enjoyed a particular link as the Queen’s only daughter, which was emphasized today as Anne made the six-hour drive from her mother’s beloved Balmoral to Edinburgh in a car following the funeral.
At about 4 p.m., the Queen’s coffin, draped in the Royal Standard for Scotland and topped with a wreath of Balmoral flowers, crossed the River Forth via the Queensferry Crossing.
Thousands of mourners had assembled along the Royal Mile as the procession approached, and they fell hushed in reverence as the convoy bearing Anne and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, arrived.
A burst of ovation then erupted as the coffin was brought out of the hearse by pallbearers and into the palace, guarded by the King’s Bodyguard for Scotland.
The Queen would spend the night at Buckingham Palace before being transferred to St Giles’ Cathedral tomorrow afternoon.
Earlier today, a solitary motorcycle police outrider guided the hearse through the Aberdeenshire countryside at a leisurely speed.
As the cortege passed through Dundee, a single long-stemmed flower could be seen on the hearse windscreen, while farmers paid respect to the queen with tractors lined up in a field.
As the Queen’s coffin was driven gently through Ballater, the lovely Victorian town nearest to the Balmoral estate, where many regarded her a neighbor, hundreds lined the main roadway. Her Majesty and her family were frequently seen at Royal Deeside hamlet, which she had visited since infancy and where the Royal Family has room to be themselves.
After the Queen’s death was announced, the hearse passed Glenmuick Church, where Rev David Barr sounded the church bells 70 times.
Well-wishers on both sides of the dark and silent Ballater road threw flowers into the hearse’s route. The hearse proceeded to a quick walking speed, allowing mourners to glimpse the royal standard-draped coffin and the wreath of flowers from the Balmoral estate, including sweet peas, one of the Queen’s favorite flowers, dahlias, phlox, white heather, and pine fir.
Six Balmoral estate gamekeepers were assigned to carry the Queen’s oak casket to the hearse earlier. It had been resting in the Balmoral ballroom so that the monarch’s estate staff may say their final farewells.
Tens of thousands of people flocked to the streets to watch the start of her ultimate trip.
Many had traveled through the night to guarantee their spot along the road after Her Majesty said her final farewell to her beloved Balmoral.
Afterwards, as the casket neared the end of its trip to the Scottish city of Edinburgh, there was a melancholy tone.
Mourners stood six deep behind metal barricades on the historic Royal Mile, which connects the palace to Edinburgh Castle.
Some others with camping chairs had waited for more than eight hours to ensure their spots on this historic day.
The crowds grew rapidly throughout the day, until there was hardly an inch of space to pass on the crowded sidewalks.
Many in the audience said that even having a quick sight of the casket holding the Queen’s body brought the tragedy of her demise into sharp focus.
However, throngs of well-wishers welcomed an emotional Charles as he arrived at his royal residence earlier today, where he met with Commonwealth delegates before proceeding to Westminster Abbey for her state funeral.
Crowds shouted and waved at Britain’s new king as he was transported in his royal Rolls-Royce through the Palace gates from Clarence House at 1pm, escorted by a convoy of four vehicles and four police motorbikes.
The King was greeted by mourners immediately after reaching Buckingham Palace by his wife Camilla, Queen Consort.
