By MIKE CORDER, JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA
LONDON (AP) — The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II left Buckingham Palace for the final time Wednesday, borne on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons and the tolling of Big Ben, in a solemn procession by means of the flag-draped, crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Hall. There, a gentle stream of mourners paid their respects to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
As the cortege left the palace, her son, King Charles III, and his siblings and sons marched behind the coffin, which was topped by a wreath of white roses and her crown resting on a purple velvet pillow.
The navy procession underscored Elizabeth’s seven many years as head of state because the nationwide mourning course of shifted to the grand boulevards and historic landmarks of the U.Ok. capital.
At 900-year-old Westminster Hall, the place the queen will lie in state till her funeral Monday, crowds shuffled previous her coffin effectively into the evening. They moved silently down the steps of the corridor below an incredible stained glass window, then previous the coffin that was coated with the Royal Standard and had been positioned on a raised platform generally known as a catafalque by eight pallbearers.
There have been {couples} and oldsters with kids, veterans with medals clinking on navy blue blazers, lawmakers and members of the House of Lords. Some wore black or fits and ties, others denims and sneakers, and all had waited hours to face in entrance of the coffin for a couple of moments
Many bowed or curtseyed and a few have been in tears.
Thousands who had waited for the procession for hours alongside The Mall outdoors the palace and different places alongside the route held up telephones and cameras, and a few wiped away tears, because the casket rolled by. Applause broke out because it handed by means of Horse Guards Parade. Thousands extra in close by Hyde Park watched on giant screens.
The coffin was topped with the Imperial State Crown — encrusted with nearly 3,000 diamonds — and a bouquet of flowers and crops, together with pine from the Balmoral Estate, the place Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 on the age of 96.
Two officers and 32 troops from the first Battalion Grenadier Guards in purple uniforms and bearskin hats walked on both aspect of the gun carriage. The 38-minute procession ended at Westminster Hall, the place Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby led a service attended by Charles and different royals.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you,” Welby learn from the Book of John.
After a brief service, the captain of The Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, assisted by a senior sergeant, laid the royal commonplace of the regiment on the steps of the catafalque.
Four officers from the Household Cavalry -– two from the Life Guards and two from the Blues Royals -– started the vigil, taking their locations at every nook and bowing their heads.
Thousands had queued up alongside the banks of the River Thames, ready to enter the corridor and pay their respects to the one monarch most Britons have ever recognized after her 70 years on the throne.
Esther Ravenor, a Kenyan who lives within the U.Ok. stated she was humbled as she watched the procession.
“I love the queen, I love the royal family, and you know, I had to be here,” she stated. “She is a true role model. She loved us all, all of us. Especially someone like me, a migrant woman coming to the U.K. 30 years ago, I was allowed to be here and to be free and safe, so I really honor her. She was a big part of my life.”
Maj. Gen. Christopher Ghika, of the Household division, who organized the ceremonial features of the queen’s funeral, stated it was “our last opportunity to do our duty for the queen, and it’s our first opportunity to do it for the king, and that makes us all very proud.”
Troops concerned within the procession had been getting ready for the reason that queen died. So had the horses of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery.
Sgt. Tom Jenks stated the horses have been specifically skilled, together with easy methods to deal with weeping mourners, in addition to flowers and flags being tossed in entrance of the procession.
Heathrow Airport briefly halted flights, saying it might “ensure silence over central London as the ceremonial procession moves from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.”
President Joe Biden spoke Wednesday with Charles to supply his condolences, the White House stated.
Biden recalled “the Queen’s kindness and hospitality” she hosted them and the primary woman at Windsor Castle in June, the assertion stated. “He also conveyed the great admiration of the American people for the Queen, whose dignity and constancy deepened the enduring friendship and special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Crowds have lined the route of the queen’s coffin at any time when it has been moved in its lengthy journey from Scotland to London.
On Tuesday evening, hundreds braved a typical London drizzle because the hearse, with inside lights illuminating the casket, drove slowly from an air base to Buckingham Palace.
Earlier, in Edinburgh, about 33,000 folks filed silently previous her coffin in 24 hours at St. Giles’ Cathedral.
The line of individuals snaking alongside the banks of the River Thames to enter Westminster Hall, the oldest constructing in Parliament, was practically 3 miles lengthy within the afternoon, in keeping with a authorities tracker.
The corridor is the place Guy Fawkes and Charles I have been tried, the place kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets, and the place ceremonial addresses have been introduced to Queen Elizabeth II throughout her silver, golden and diamond jubilees.
Chris Bond, from Truro in southwest England, was amongst these ready to see the queen’s coffin. He additionally attended the mendacity in state of the queen’s mom in 2002.
“Obviously, it’s quite difficult queuing all day long, but when you walk through those doors into Westminster Hall, that marvelous, historic building, there was a great sense of hush and one was told you take as much time as you like, and it’s just amazing,” he stated.
“We know the queen was a good age and she served the country a long time, but we hoped this day would never come,” he added.
Chris Imafidon, secured the sixth place within the queue.
“I have 1,001 emotions when I see her,” he stated. “I want to say, God, she was an angel, because she touched many good people and did so many good things.”
—-
Associated Press author Sylvia Hui contributed.
___
Follow AP protection of Queen at https://apnews.com/hub/queen-elizabeth-ii
Source: www.bostonherald.com”