The coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II arrived in London on Tuesday, September 13, after leaving Edinburgh Cathedral, under the emotional gaze of a crowd gathered to bid farewell to the sovereign who died Thursday at the age of 96.

The remains, escorted by Princess Anne, were taken on board a royal plane.

He is to be transferred by hearse to Buckingham Palace, where he will be greeted by his son Charles III and members of the royal family.

There he will receive the farewells of hundreds of thousands of moved and impatient Britons to pay a last tribute to their sovereign. 

Farewell to the Scots

In Edinburgh on Monday and Tuesday, tens of thousands of Britons waited for hours, including at night, to meditate, bowing, curtsying, crossing themselves or wiping away a tear in front of the coffin which rested in St. Gilles from the Scottish capital. 

Placed on a platform and covered with the yellow, red and navy standard of Scotland, a wreath of white flowers and the solid gold crown of Scotland placed above, the coffin remained accessible throughout the night of Monday.

King Charles III and his three siblings - Princes Andrew and Edward, along with Princess Anne - came on Monday evening with Queen Consort Camilla to observe a wake.

The photo of the children of Elizabeth II, back to the coffin, made the front page of all the daily newspapers on Tuesday.

The body of Elizabeth II had until Monday evening been kept away from the general public: first at Balmoral Castle in northern Scotland, where the monarch died, then at the royal palace. of Holyrood.

Hundreds of thousands of people expected outside Buckingham

Popular figure, rock of stability in the sometimes political, social or health storm during the Covid-19, the queen was a reassuring image for millions of Britons. 

In London, the remains of the sovereign will spend one last night at Buckingham Palace, her official residence during her 70 years and seven months of reign.

Then the second part of its presentation to the public will begin on Wednesday, which should see hundreds of thousands of people parade for just under five days, 24 hours a day. Some began to queue on Monday.

The Queen's state funeral will take place on Monday September 19 in the presence of some 500 foreign dignitaries and many crowned heads.

But Russia, Belarus and Burma were not invited.

With AFP

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