Mourners will on Monday get the first opportunity to pay respects before the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, as it lies in an Edinburgh cathedral where King Charles III will preside over a vigil.
Thousands of people are expected to line up for the chance to see the flag-draped casket at St Giles’ Cathedral in the Scottish capital, a week before her funeral in London.
The new monarch will walk behind his mother’s coffin in a sombre afternoon procession leading from Holyroodhouse palace — where it arrived on Sunday after making a six-hour road journey from Balmoral Castle — to the cathedral.
In the morning, the new king is due to address British lawmakers in London for the first time since ascending the throne, as the pageantry continues ahead of the queen’s September 19 state funeral.
The lengthy mourning period comes with Britain trying to reconcile itself to the death of its longest-serving monarch, who has been part of the backdrop of national life almost since World War II.
Crowds turned out in the Scottish capital on Sunday as the horse carrying the queen drove through the city, with some cheering, some throwing flowers and a few shedding tears in an outpouring of respect.
People also lined the streets of towns and villages along the 180-mile route from her beloved Balmoral estate, where she died on Thursday aged 96 after seven decades on the throne.
Images of the coffin draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland dominated the front pages of British newspapers this Monday.
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