Charles III and his siblings
Joint wake for her mother
King Charles III positioned himself with his siblings at the coffin.
© getty/JANE BARLOW / POOL/AFP via Getty Images
King Charles III and his three siblings held a wake for their late mother at St Giles Cathedral.
King Charles III (73), together with his siblings Princess Anne (72), Prince Andrew (62) and Prince Edward (58), held a wake at the coffin of their late mother Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) in St. Giles Cathedral . The four stood at one of the four sides of the coffin laid out, their backs to it, with their heads bowed during the roughly ten-minute ceremony known as the “Vigil of the Princes.” Others who wished to say goodbye to the Queen during the cathedral visit witnessed the wake and walked well past the coffin, which was decorated with the Scottish royal crown and white flowers.
Funeral procession in Edinburgh
Earlier, thousands of them lined the street as the Queen’s coffin was carried in a procession from the forecourt of Holyrood Palace in a carriage to St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh. Charles III and his brothers and sisters accompanied the carriage and followed it to the church. A memorial service was held in the cathedral afterwards.
The vigil held in the evening has been a tradition in the British royal family since the death of King George V in 1936, with Princess Anne according to the Daily Mail became the first female Royal to attend following Monday’s ceremony. The 72-year-old will accompany her mother’s coffin on Tuesday (September 13) with the Royal Air Force from Scotland to England.