Queen Elizabeth's Coffin Begins Its Final Journey

Queen Elizabeth's coffin, draped in the Scottish royal standard, with a wreath of dahlias, sweet peas, phlox, white heather, and pine fir, left Balmoral Castle for the first time today on its final journey. At 10 a.m. local time, it was loaded onto a hearse by six Balmoral estate gamekeepers, then, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Timothy Laurence accompanied the late monarch on the somber drive from the Queen's estate to her official Scottish residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

There, the Queen's coffin will lie in the Throne Room before traveling to St Giles Cathedral on the afternoon of Monday, September 12. Then, following the ceremony of the keys, it will travel by air to London, where the Queen will lie in state in Westminster Hall until her funeral on Monday, September 19.

“As the person with overall responsibility for delivering the funeral, let me end by saying that, together with so many colleagues from within The Royal Household, the Armed Forces, the Police, and other institutions of Church and State, we will carry out our duty over the coming days with the heaviest of hearts,” the Earl Marshall, Duke of Norfolk, who is responsible for organizing state occasions, said. “But also, with the firmest of resolve to ensure a fitting farewell to one of the defining figures of our times; a monarch whom we were truly privileged to have had as the Head of State of our country and the Realms, and Head of the wider Commonwealth...I think we can, in some way, repay that debt by carrying out her last wishes in delivering Her Majesty The Queen’s Funeral.”

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