The flag-draped casket arrives in the Royal Hearse at Buckingham Palace. Photo: AFP / Justin Tallis
The casket of the late Queen Elizabeth II has made its final journey to London after lying in rest in Edinburgh.
The flag-draped coffin was flown to London from Scotland in a Royal Air Force plane after lying at rest in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, where thousands of people filed past to pay their respects.
The well-lit hearse travelled slowly through London, with crowds all along the route, some in the road, others throwing flowers, and many ditching their cars or running from nearby streets to catch a glimpse of the cortege.
As it entered the grounds of the London palace, the police outriders who had led the way stopped to bow their heads.
Charles, who automatically became king on the death of his mother last week, his siblings, sons William and Harry, and other senior members of the royal family had gathered to receive the coffin.
Princess Anne, the Queen's only daughter, had accompanied the casket on its journey from Scotland issued a statement saying she had been "fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother's life".
"It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys. Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting," it read.
Pallbearers from the Queen's Colour Squadron (63 Squadron RAF Regiment) carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II to the Royal Hearse at the Royal Air Force Northolt airbase. Photo: AFP / Kirsty Wigglesworth
The coffin will rest in the Bow Room of Buckingham Palace before being moved to Westminster Hall tomorrow, where the Queen will lie in state for four days. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to file past the coffin to pay their respects and a huge policing operation is expected.
King Charles visits Northern Ireland
Crowds of well-wishers greeted King Charles with handshakes and warm words when he visited Northern Ireland on Tuesday as part of a tour of the United Kingdom to lead mourning for Queen Elizabeth.
Queen Elizabeth died on Thursday in her holiday home at Balmoral Castle at the age of 96. King Charles is travelling to the four parts of the United Kingdom before the funeral.
Thousands of people lined the streets outside Hillsborough Castle, the monarch's official residence, to welcome him. He stepped out of his car to shake hands with well-wishers to chants of God Save the King.
King Charles III meets members of the public during a walkabout in Belfast on 13 September, 2022, during his visit to Northern Ireland. Photo: AFP / Pool / Niall Carson
Joy Hutchinson, 34, said she hoped Charles would keep the United Kingdom together after some have blamed Brexit, Britain's departure from the European Union, among other things for loosening Britain's ties with Northern Ireland.
Later Charles met senior politicians and faith leaders at the castle, telling them in a speech he would seek the welfare of the people of Northern Ireland. He also paid tribute to his mother.
"My mother saw Northern Ireland pass through momentous and historic changes. Through all those years, she never ceased to pray for the best of times for this place and for its people, whose stories she knew, whose sorrows our family had felt, and for whom she had a great affection and regard.
"My mother felt deeply, I know, the significance of the role she herself played in bringing together those whom history had separated, and in extending a hand to make possible the healing of long-held hurts," he said.
A potent symbol of the union, the queen in her later years became a major force for reconciliation with its Irish nationalist foes, with her state visit to Ireland in 2011 the first by a monarch in almost a century of independence.
Charles has also spoken in the past about the murder of his great uncle Lord Mountbatten, to whom he was very close, in Ireland by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1979, saying the death had given him a profound understanding of the agonies borne by so many people in the country.
"Don't forget, the royal family themselves have been deeply impacted by violence in Northern Ireland in terms of their own family and loss," Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said.
"I expect that he will want to see his role being part of protecting and building and strengthening the relationship between Britain and Ireland given the complexity of our past and given the polarisation of political opinion, particularly in Northern Ireland," he told BBC radio.
- Reuters / BBC / ABC