By JILL LAWLESS and MIKE CORDER
LONDON (AP) — The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II returned to a drizzly Londay on Tuesday night, making its method towards the monarch’s dwelling Buckingham Palace as crowds lined the path to catch a glimpse of the hearse and to bid her a closing farewell.
Her son, King Charles III, had already returned to London from Northern Ireland, the place his go to drew a uncommon second of unity from politicians in a area with a contested British and Irish id that’s deeply divided over the monarchy.
The navy C-17 Globemaster carrying the casket touched down at RAF Northolt, an air power base west of town, about an hour after it left her beloved Scotland. U.Ok. Prime Minister Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and a navy honor guard have been amongst these greeting the coffin.
The queen’s physique made its closing journey to London from Balmoral Castle in northern Scotland, the place the monarch died Sept. 8 at age 96 after 70 years on the throne.
It traveled previous hundreds of people that gathered within the rain alongside the street. Some had parked their vehicles alongside the usually busy route, obtained out and waved because the hearse handed.
Charles and different members of quick household will meet the coffin at Buckingham Palace, the place it would spend a closing night time on the queen’s London dwelling. It might be taken by horse-drawn gun carriage Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state for 4 days earlier than Monday’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.
Earlier, the flag-draped oak coffin was carried from St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh to the pressure of bagpipes. Crowds lining the Royal Mile by the historic coronary heart of Edinburgh broke into applause because the coffin, accompanied by the queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, was pushed to Edinburgh Airport.
The Scottish authorities mentioned 33,000 folks filed silently previous the coffin within the 24 hours after it was delivered to Edinburgh from Balmoral.
In Northern Ireland, a whole bunch of individuals lined the road resulting in Hillsborough Castle close to Belfast, the royal household’s official residence in Northern Ireland, within the newest outpouring of affection following the queen’s demise. The space in entrance of the gates to the citadel was carpeted with a whole bunch of floral tributes.
Charles and his spouse Camilla, the Queen Consort, obtained out of their automobile to wave to the group and typically used each arms to achieve out to villagers, together with schoolchildren in shiny blue uniforms. Charles even petted a corgi — famously his late mom’s favourite breed of canine — held up by one particular person, and a few chanted “God save the king!”
“Today means so much to me and my family, just to be present in my home village with my children to witness the arrival of the new king is a truly historic moment for us all,” mentioned Hillsborough resident Robin Campbell as he waited for Charles, who’s on a tour of the 4 elements of the United Kingdom.
While there was a heat welcome in Hillsborough, the British monarchy attracts combined feelings in Northern Ireland, the place there are two most important communities: principally Protestant unionists who think about themselves British and largely Roman Catholic nationalists who see themselves as Irish.
That cut up fueled three a long time of violence generally known as “the Troubles” involving paramilitary teams on either side and U.Ok. safety forces, by which 3,600 folks died. The royal household was touched personally by the violence: Lord Louis Mountbatten, a cousin of the queen and a much-loved mentor to Charles, was killed by an Irish Republican Army bomb in 1979.
A deep sectarian divide stays, 1 / 4 century after Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace settlement.
For some Irish nationalists, the British monarch represents an oppressive international energy. But others acknowledge the queen’s function in forging peace. On a go to to Northern Ireland in 2012, she shook arms with Sinn Fein deputy chief Martin McGuinness, a former IRA commander – a once-unthinkable second of reconciliation.
Alex Maskey, a Sinn Fein politician who’s speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, mentioned the queen had “demonstrated how individual acts of positive leadership can help break down barriers and encourage reconciliation.”
In an indication of how far Northern Ireland has come on the street to peace, representatives of Sinn Fein attended commemorative occasions for the queen and assembly the king on Tuesday.
Maskey expressed condolences to the king at an occasion in Hillsborough Castle attended by leaders from all the primary political events in Northern Ireland.
Charles responded that his mom had tried to play a job “in bringing together those whom history had separated, and in extending a hand to make possible the healing of long-held hurts.”
He mentioned he would draw on his mom’s “shining example” and “seek the welfare of all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland.”
Still, not everybody was welcoming the brand new king.
On the Falls Road in Belfast, a nationalist stronghold, a number of partitions are embellished with murals of Bobby Sands, an IRA member who died whereas on a starvation strike in jail in 1981, and others killed within the Troubles.
“No, he’s not our king. Bobby Sands was our king here,” mentioned 52-year-old Bobby Jones. “Queen never done nothing for us. Never did. None of the royals do.”
Politicians from throughout Northern Ireland’s divides attended a memorial service for the queen in Belfast. British Prime Minister Liz Truss, her Irish counterpart Micheal Martin and Irish President Michael D. Higgins have been at St. Anne’s Cathedral within the middle of Belfast for the Anglican “service of reflection.”
Clergy praised the queen’s function in serving to carry peace to Northern Ireland. Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell mentioned she had “walked the hard road of reconciliation.”
Irish leaders additionally attended regardless of tense relations between Dublin and London over Brexit. Since Britain left the European Union in 2020, the U.Ok. and the EU have been wrangling over commerce guidelines for Northern Ireland, the one a part of the U.Ok. that shares a border with a member of the bloc.
On Monday night time, Charles and siblings Anne, Andrew and Edward briefly stood vigil round their mom’s flag-draped coffin on the cathedral as members of the general public filed previous.
The following morning, a person carrying a go well with adorned with medals stood silently, bowed his head and moved on. A lady dabbed away tears with a handkerchief. Another lady with two younger kids in class uniforms walked slowly previous the coffin.
In the road of mourners exterior the cathedral, Sheila McLeay known as the queen “a wonderful ambassador for our country.”
“She was such an example for every single one of us. She was dignified. She was just, she was beautiful inside and out. And I have known her all of my life. And I miss her very much,” she added.
___
Follow AP tales on the demise of Queen Elizabeth II and Britain’s royal household at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
Source: www.bostonherald.com”