THE attention of the world will be on Scotland from today as the Queen’s coffin arrives in Edinburgh ahead of the first ceremonial events to mark her death.
Preparations were well underway yesterday with dozens of security barriers lining the Royal Mile and media arriving from around the globe.
The Queen’s coffin will be taken from Balmoral to Holyrood Palace leaving around 10am today, with the cortege following a route through Ballater, Aberdeen, Dundee and passing by the Scottish Parliament.
Tomorrow, there will be a procession from the palace to St Giles’ Cathedral, with the King and members of the royal family taking part and attending a service to receive the coffin.
The Queen will then lie at rest in St Giles’ Cathedral, guarded by vigils from The Royal Company of Archers, to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects.
Tomorrow, the new King will make his first appearance at the Scottish Parliament as monarch to observe a motion of condolence.
The monarch will be joined by his wife the Queen Consort as they come together to pay tribute to the Queen.
Confirming the visit, the Scottish Parliament twitter account said: “A motion of condolence will be taken @ScotParl on Monday 12 September in the presence of His Majesty The King and The Queen Consort.”
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone said: “Members of the Scottish Parliament will come together on Monday to pay tribute to Her Majesty The Queen. We are honoured to do this in the presence of His Majesty The King and The Queen Consort.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the Queen’s coffin will travel from Scotland by Royal Air Force aircraft from Edinburgh Airport, arriving at RAF Northolt later that evening.
The coffin will be accompanied by Princess Anne, and it will then be taken to Buckingham Palace by road, to rest in the Bow Room, before an official lying in state takes place at Westminster Hall from Wednesday.
The Queen’s funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey on Monday, September 19, at 11am.
Yesterday, the Royal Mile was crowded with the usual Saturday shoppers and tourists on a sunny day, but they were joined by dozens of police, security guards and contractors as the massive operation to stage the ceremonial events got underway.
Edinburgh City Council has said it is expecting thousands of people to line the city’s streets to pay their respects and there will be “significant disruption” in the city.
For Garry Petrie, it was business as usual for now serving customers at The Wyrd Shop, which has shelves lined with an array of crystals, candles and jewellery.
Having been in a prime spot on Canongate for more than two decades, he said he had seen “absolutely everything” when it comes to major events in Edinburgh – but this was likely to be one of the biggest yet.
“Obviously we have just had the festival which was still down from what it used to be,” he said. “But the town does feel very busy – it does very much feel like the world is about to descend.”
The main front gates of the Holyrood Palace were closed off to visitors, who were instead directed to follow a one-way system to a dedicated area where dozens of floral tributes had been laid.
Around lunchtime there was a steady trickle of people making their way to the site, past a table where two security guards were cutting the plastic off bunches of flowers – for environmental reasons, according to stewards and police officers.
There were hand-written notes and drawings by children, while one well-wisher left a marmalade sandwich inside a zipped plastic bag next to a stuffed Paddington Bear, as nod to the sketch the Queen was in with the famous children’s character for her Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
Norma, from Kirriemuir, who had planned a weekend in Edinburgh to celebrate her 12th wedding anniversary with her husband, said they had intended to visit the Palace as part of their trip.
She added: “It is good that some of this is happening in Scotland, otherwise the focus would have been just on London.”
A TV crew from Brazil, who had arrived in Scotland the previous day to cover the Queen’s funeral, filmed interviews as visitors milled about looking at the tributes.
Diane, who had moved to Edinburgh from Canada – where the Queen was head of state for 70 years – was among the onlookers trying to find out what was happening.
She said: “I think it will be an interesting few days, it is important for Scottish people as far as I can tell, she is their Queen too.
“It is a once in lifetime thing for us, we are approaching 60, so it is the last time we are going to see it maybe.”
Today at noon, the proclamation announcing that the Queen has died and the King has acceded the throne will also be read aloud at Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood, as part of a tradition which sees official announcements made in towns and cities.
