Mile-long queues have formed outside Buckingham Palace, with thousands of Britons wanting to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth.
From early in the morning, people of all ages are leaving flowers, paintings, letters – even personal belongings. Similar long queues are also observed at other royal estates such as Balmoral, where Queen Elizabeth died, and Windsor.
People in Scotland also stand in silence to bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth for the last time: from Balmoral to Edinburgh, the Queen’s coffin slowly makes its way across her beloved Scotland on a six-hour journey.
The motorcade started in the morning after the six Balmoral rangers carried the coffin from the castle ballroom to the hearse. The coffin was draped with the Scottish Royal Banner and a wreath of flowers, all picked from the gardens of Balmoral.
The seven vehicles drove slowly past the bouquets that the citizens had left along the fence.
Ballater was the first village to welcome the motorcade Elizabeth. Hundreds of residents and visitors, clergy, and local officials, many dressed in black but also in traditional Scottish garb, lined the side of the high street. Some bowed in respect, others showered the hearse with flowers. “She was the only queen I ever met in my life,” said a scientist who lives in a nearby village.
