King Charles III and his wife Camilla received the condolences of the British Parliament at a ceremony in London on Monday morning. The royal couple then traveled on to Edinburgh in Scotland, where they arrived in the early afternoon and were greeted with cheers and applause. They accompany the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II from the royal residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, to St Giles’ Cathedral.
The royal couple was first received by MPs from the Houses of Commons and Houses of Lords in London in Westminster Hall, where the coffin of the deceased Queen is to be laid out from Wednesday. The arrival of the royal couple was accompanied by fanfares before Charles and Camilla were each seated on a throne. After speeches by the two parliamentary presidents, the speakers of the two chambers, the visibly moved Charles turned to the parliamentarians.
“Parliament is the living and breathing instrument of our democracy,” said Charles, who described the Queen as “my darling late mother.” Charles said he wanted to follow his mother’s lead in upholding “the precious principles of constitutional government that underpin our nation.” At the end of the day, the national anthem “God Save the King” was sung.
After the ceremony, Charles and Camilla flew to Edinburgh. Thousands of people had gathered there since morning along the central Royal Mile to see the funeral procession with the coffin of the deceased Queen. They clapped and cheered as the car with the Royal Standard for Scotland passed them. At his residence, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Charles was greeted with a gun salute and the national anthem.
Worship Service with the Royals
In front of the residence, the new king symbolically received the key to the city from the Lord Provost – a kind of mayor. Thereupon, as tradition dictates, Charles returned the key, remarking that there were no better keepers than the Lord Provost and the MPs. The ritual takes place every summer when the Head of State is in Edinburgh for a week. Queen Elizabeth II took part in this “Ceremony of the Keys” in July.
The king and other members of the royal family want to walk the way from the residence to St. Giles Cathedral later in the procession. The royals then attend a church service. The Scots then have 24 hours to say goodbye to the Queen in the church.
The coffin will then be flown to London
Charles will also receive Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Edinburgh. He and his wife Camilla also want to receive condolences in the Scottish Parliament. His trip to Scotland is part of Operation Spring Tide, which envisages visits by Charles as the new king to all four parts of Britain. The royal couple will therefore travel to Northern Ireland tomorrow, Tuesday; the visit to Wales follows on Friday.
The transfer of the Queen’s body by plane to London is also planned for Tuesday, where the deceased is to be laid out for several days. On Wednesday, King Charles will then lead another funeral procession through the British capital, from Buckingham Palace to Parliament.
Hundreds of thousands at the wake
From Wednesday 18.00 CEST the coffin will be laid out in Parliament’s Westminster Hall. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected for the wake. A Conservative MP even spoke of up to two million people on Monday.
The British government recommends that mourners bring weatherproof clothing, enough provisions, a mobile phone power bank and a lot of patience. The British public has until the day of the state funeral on September 19 to pay their Queen one last visit and say goodbye. However, a lot of time must be planned for this. “You have to stand for many hours, probably overnight, with few opportunities to sit down because the queue will continue to move,” says the Ministry of Culture’s information on the processes. You should think twice about bringing children. Roadblocks and disruptions to the transport network are also to be expected.
Van der Bellen travels to London
The state funeral, to which Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen also wants to travel, is scheduled for September 19. The British get an extra holiday for this. Until then, national mourning applies; official events and parliamentary operations are suspended.
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Source: Nachrichten
