Queen’s coffin can be viewed by public in Edinburgh from Monday
The Queen’s coffin will be accompanied by the Princess Royal as it returns to London on Tuesday
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Your support makes all the difference.Mourners will be able to view the Queen’s coffin from 5pm on Monday, the City of Edinburgh Council has confirmed.
The late monarch will lie in state at St Giles Cathedral on Edinburgh’s High Street for 24 hours and members of the royal family, including the King, will stand beside the coffin from 7.20pm in a tradition known as the Vigil of the Princes.
A queuing system will be in place with security checks and restrictions on using mobile phones will apply. Photos and recordings are banned.
Those who wish to pay their respects have been warned they face long waits due to the anticipated demand.
Officials said weather conditions could be challenging and people should be prepared to stand for a number of hours.
The Lord Lieutenant of Edinburgh, Robert Aldridge, said the events in Edinburgh were set to be “truly historic”.
He said: “The news of Her Majesty The Queen’s passing has been met with great sadness around the world and has been greeted with an outpouring of emotion that reflects how highly regarded she was at home and abroad.
“I’m preparing to warmly welcome King Charles and royal family members and of course to express deepest sympathy on behalf of the city.
“The next few days will be truly historic for Edinburgh, with tens of thousands of people descending to pay their respects and millions more across the world tuning into the broadcast coverage.
“I believe Scotland can take real pride that Her Majesty cherished her time here and now the eyes of the world will be upon the Capital as we unite in national mourning and herald our new King.
A senior palace official said the Queen lies in an oak coffin covered with the Royal Standard for Scotland and with a wreath of flowers laid on top, in a “scene of quiet dignity” at the Ballroom of Balmoral Castle.
They said this allowed Balmoral staff, many of whom have spent a good deal of their lives working there, to pay their last respects.
On Sunday, the coffin will leave Balmoral Castle for its six-hour procession, slowing to allow people to witness and pay respects as it passes through towns and villages and via Aberdeen to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
The procession will pass through the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Perth before its arrival in Edinburgh, allowing thousands of well-wishers to view the coffin and pay tribute to the Queen.
The coffin will be accompanied by the Earl of Dalhousie and the minister of Crathie Church and will be driven in a hearse provided by William Purves, a company from Edinburgh which was founded in 1888 in the reign of Queen Victoria.
It will remain in the Throne Room at Holyroodhouse overnight before a procession at 4pm on Monday, followed by the King and other royals following on foot, along the Royal Mile to St Giles’s Cathedral.
Edinburgh’s Books of Condolence have also been opened online, at Central Library and across the city for citizens and visitors to pay their respects.
The procession along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile will feature the new King and the late Queen’s other children, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex following behind on foot, along with Anne’s husband Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.
The Queen Consort and the Countess of Wessex will follow by car and attend the service in St Giles’s.
The Princess Royal will accompany the Queen’s body back to London by plane on Tuesday.
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