Guillaume Domingez, Lionel Gougelot, edited by Yanis Darras
modified to
12:56 p.m., September 12, 2022
In the United Kingdom, the queen’s coffin will go to St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday, marking the start of a week of mourning in the country. After a religious ceremony, the public will be able to see the queen’s coffin one last time before her departure for London. In the capital, preparations for the funeral are progressing rapidly.
It’s a long week of mourning that begins for the United Kingdom. In Scotland, thousands of English people are expected at Saint-Gilles Cathedral on Monday to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, who died last Thursday at the age of 96. The royal coffin will be on public display there one last time before leaving for London. Some traveled the country to say goodbye to the one who was the queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth for almost 70 years, like Yann, who traveled more than 200 kilometers to be present.
“See Her One Last Time”
“I took the bus from Perth, to Edinburgh, to come here. She was the queen, my queen all my life and I wanted to be there to see her just one last time”, explains the Scot . The procession will depart from the Palace of Holyroodhouse around 3.30 p.m. French time, to go to Saint-Gilles Cathedral. The Queen’s coffin will travel in the Royal Hearse, a black vehicle with transparent windows, and it will be followed by the new King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla, who will walk behind the convoy to the Cathedral.
Once the coffin is in the cathedral, the king will lay the crown of Scotland in solid gold on it. There will then follow a religious ceremony of about 1 hour. The Scots will then be able to meditate in front of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II this evening. Tonight and tomorrow all day. The Queen’s body will then leave Edinburgh by plane, heading for London.
Strict protocol in London
Nearly 2,000 heads of state are expected for the queen’s funeral in the British capital. Faced with this influx, rules have been put in place to limit the flow of travel and the potential anarchy in the streets of London. First, given the limited number of places, only one representative per State accompanied by his or her spouse may be present. For example, it would also have been requested to take commercial flights to avoid the traffic jams of private jets or official planes at Heathrow airport.
It is also prohibited to use helicopters that have arrived in the British capital. These Heads of State will also not be able to travel by car, the coach under police escort will therefore be compulsory to get to Westminster Abbey. Finally, the heads of state who want to bow before the remains of the queen will only have three short minutes to pay homage to her.