The new Prince of Wales and his brother the Duke of Sussex will not take part in the procession that will follow the Queen’s coffin as it is moved from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral later on Monday. The Queen’s children will take the lead, with Charles joined by the Princess Royal, Earl of Wessex and Duke of York.
The royal siblings will walk in a line behind the hearse carrying their mother’s coffin and a few steps behind will by Anne’s husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence. Following in a car will be the Queen Consort and the Countess of Wessex.
People could be seen climbing on top of road barriers on the Royal Mile to catch a glimpse of the King and the Queen Consort arriving in Edinburgh. Visitors have described the atmosphere in the area as lively, with lots of people chatting.
Strict road closures are in place surrounding the Mile, which runs from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to Edinburgh Castle, past St Giles’ Cathedral where the Queen’s coffin will be taken on Monday afternoon. Security are not allowing anyone else in.
King Charles III and the Queen Consort returned to Scotland as the new monarch continued his tour of the home nations to hear the condolences of legislators. Charles and Camilla travelled to the Palace of Holyroodhouse – where the Queen’s coffin lies at rest in the throne room – for a day of engagements including visiting the Scottish Parliament to hear words of sympathy.
When the couple’s jet arrived at Edinburgh Airport they were greeted by a small group of dignitaries including Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who appeared to be having a brief heartfelt conversation with the new monarch. Charles has been photographed looking close to tears in the days following his mother’s death but his mood appeared lighter and he smiled and shared a laugh with some on the officials at the steps of the plane.
Earlier, during an event at Westminster Hall in London, where both Houses of Parliament gathered to express their condolences to the new monarch, the King promised to “faithfully to follow” the example of his mother. In a short response inside the hall after a formal expression of condolence from MPs and peers, the new King quoted Shakespeare as he spoke movingly of tributes and monuments to his mother inside the Palace of Westminster and spoke of feeling the “weight of history” as he stood inside the historic room.
Speaking from a gilded lectern, Charles said: “I am deeply grateful for the addresses of condolence.” He said the addresses “touchingly encompass what our late sovereign, my beloved mother the Queen, meant to us all”.
Charles once again reached for Shakespeare, after quoting from the play Hamlet in his address to the nation last week. “As Shakespeare says of the earlier Queen Elizabeth, she was ‘a pattern to all princes living’.
“As I stand before you today, I cannot help but feel the weight of history which surrounds us and which reminds us of the vital parliamentary traditions to which members of both Houses dedicate yourselves with such personal commitment, for the betterment of us all.”
Among those attending was the Prime Minister Liz Truss, as well as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, joined by MPs and peers under the cavernous timber roof of the ancient building in central London.
