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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Kelly-Ann Mills

Queen’s coffin seen for first time as monarch begins final journey to London

The coffin carrying the Queen has embarked on its long journey back to London as the monarch leaves her beloved Balmoral for the last time.

This morning, the cortege left the Scottish estate where the Queen died peacefully on Thursday.

Her son King Charles and daughter Princess Anne were with their mother when she died.

The 96-year-old's coffin has been draped with the yellow Royal Standard of Scotland with a wreath of flowers on top.

It has remained at rest in the Balmoral ballroom so the late monarch's loyal Balmoral estate workers could say their last goodbyes.

The oak coffin was lifted into a hearse at 10am by six of the estate's gamekeepers, who have been tasked with the symbolic gesture, ready for a six-hour journey to Edinburgh.

Princess Anne is travelling with the coffin on its journey home (REUTERS)

Well-wishers are already lining the long route the cortege will travel through Aberdeen and Dundee before arriving in Edinburgh, where the Queen will remain overnight.

The hearse is expected to first head from Balmoral Castle to the nearby town on Ballater in Aberdeenshire, passing along the A93.

The Queen's coffin is driven through the gates at Balmoral (Justin Goff/GoffPhotos.com)

Tributes will be led by the Lord-Lieutenants of Aberdeenshire, as well as senior officers and councillors.

The cortege will then travel along the A93, through Aboyne, Banchory and Drumoak, before it is then expected to arrive in Aberdeen.

The hearse is on its way to Edinburgh (Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)

The Lord Provost of Aberdeen, in his role as Lord-Lieutenant, will lead a tribute at Duthie Park at around 11.20am today.

At 2pm the cortege will arrive in Dundee, after travelling south along the A90.

A makeshift memorial to the Queen in Ballater (AFP via Getty Images)

Members of the public are being invited to pay their respects in safe standing areas along the A90 Forfar Road and Kingsway.

At 4pm the cortege will then head to Edinburgh, where First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and other party leaders in Scotland are expected to observe the coffin as it goes past the Scottish parliament.

Well-wishers lining the streets of Ballater to watch the cortege (REUTERS)

All the pavements along the route from the north of the city to the Scottish parliament will be lined with barriers to allow the public to view from there.

From there, the coffin will be taken into the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where it will remain for the night.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the "poignant" journey, which will see the Queen's coffin transported to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, would give the public a chance to come together to "mark our country's shared loss".

You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here

Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland (Getty Images)

On Saturday, the royal family received the condolences of well-wishers when they viewed floral tributes left in memory of the late Queen at her homes of Balmoral and Windsor Castle.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Prince and Princess of Wales were united in grief when they went on a walkabout meeting the public close to the Berkshire castle.

A knitted topper of the Queen has been placed on a post box in Ballater, Scotland (PA)

Earlier that day, King Charles III had been formally confirmed as the nation's new monarch during a meeting of the Accession Council.

In London, Charles will meet Baroness Scotland, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, at Buckingham Palace, and he will later host High Commissioners and their spouses, from countries where he is head of state, at the royal residence's Bow Room.

Preparations under way on the streets on in Edinburgh (Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS)

* Today the Sunday Mirror celebrates the life of Her Majesty the Queen with a commemorative special filled with all the key moments from Britain’s longest reigning monarch.

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