Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
Queen Elizabeth II left her Scottish home for the final time in an emotional moment as thousands lined the streets to pay their respects as the hearse passed by.
The hearse carrying the late queen’s oak coffin left Balmoral Castle to make its way toward Edinburgh around 9 a.m. local time. Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, follows immediately behind in a separate car.
What is usually around a three-hour drive will take twice that amount of time in a planned winding route that will include villages and small towns. Hundreds of residents have gathered in each to pay their respects to the late queen, who has been the only monarch most of them have ever known.
“It’s like a family member, it overwhelms – the sadness – that she’s not going to be with us,” said Elizabeth Alexander, 69, to a Reuters journalist in the small village of Ballater. Alexander, who bears the same name as the queen, was born on the day that Elizabeth was crowned in 1953.
Elizabeth’s death has deeply affected the country. Thousands have already gathered to witness the coffin pass, which is draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath of flowers gathered from the Balmoral Castle on top. Tens of thousands more have visited royal palaces across the British Commonwealth to leave flowers and pay their respects.
“I know how deeply you, the entire nation – and I think I may say the whole world – sympathize with me in the irreparable loss we have all suffered,” King Charles III said in his personal declaration as monarch yesterday.
The queen’s death has also potentially motivated her grandsons, Prince William and Prince Harry, to reconcile after two years of strained relationships.
William and Kate Middleton, who just received the new titles of Prince and Princess of Wales, had scheduled a public appearance to review the memorial sites outside the walls of Buckingham Palace. However, the two brothers and their wives made this appearance unexpectedly together.
It’s the first time all four have been seen together since March 2020. Since Harry and his wife Meghan Markle stepped away from their senior royal duties in favor of a life in the U.S., tension has reportedly dominated the relationship between the princes.
Harry and Meghan’s public interviews criticizing Britain and the royal family, including an Oprah appearance where Meghan accused a royal family member of racism, have only added to the tension.
It has also earned the ire of the British public, who greeted the Duke and Duchess of Sussex with boos only a few days ago. Today, the crowd was more receptive and cheered the appearance of all four royals.
Royal reporter Neil Sean told Fox News that the appearance was just a show of unity during a period of grief. He added, “…the British royals have shown they are the bigger person.”
Elizabeth passed away on Thursday while at Balmoral Castle at the age of 96. Her coffin has been in the castle’s ballroom until today. Next, it will be taken to the throne room at the Palace of the Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
Charles and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, will attend a memorial service and vigil at Edinburgh’s St. Giles Cathedral tomorrow. After this 24-hour period, the coffin will be transported by airplane to London.