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Also King Charles III. was on his way home to the British capital. A plane brought the monarch and his wife Queen Camilla back from the Northern Irish capital of Belfast in the evening.
The coffin containing the late Queen was received with military honors in Northolt. British Prime Minister Liz Truss and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace also attended the ceremony. Princess Anne joined her mother on her recent flight from Edinburgh aboard the C-17 Globemaster aircraft with her husband Tim Laurence. In the Scottish capital, the head of government there, Nicola Sturgeon, and the British Minister for Scotland, Alister Jack, paid their last respects to the Queen at the airport.
Upon arrival near London, the coffin was driven to Buckingham Palace, where it was carried by Elizabeth’s son, King Charles III. is received and stays overnight in the so-called Bow Room. Despite the rain, numerous people waited along the route towards the city center and at the palace to catch a glimpse of the hearse. This Wednesday, a funeral procession will take the coffin to Parliament, where it will be laid out for several days.
The population can say goodbye until Monday morning
Until Monday morning, the population has the opportunity to pay the Queen one last visit and say goodbye. 500 heads of state and government from all over the world are expected at the state funeral. Austria is represented by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen. However, some countries are undesirable, namely Russia, Belarus and the military regime of Myanmar. Iran should only be represented at the diplomatic level. On the other hand, both King Felipe and his controversial father, former king Juan Carlos II, will arrive from Spain. On the evening before the planned state funeral (September 18, 9:00 p.m. CEST), the British government in London has called on them to observe a minute’s silence for the Queen.
Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday at the age of 96 at her Scottish country estate, Balmoral Castle. On Sunday her coffin was transferred to Edinburgh and on Monday there was a funeral march attended by King Charles III. and his siblings participated on foot, been brought to the cathedral.
Thousands had already been waiting for the British royal couple Charles and Camilla in the Northern Irish capital on Tuesday. There, Charles and Camilla first visit an exhibition at the Royal Castle of Hillsborough about Queen Elizabeth’s long association with Northern Ireland. Hundreds of bouquets of flowers lay in front of the residence. The Queen had visited Northern Ireland around 25 times. The visit to the British provinces is also intended to underline the affiliation of the former civil war region to the United Kingdom.
The visit recognized Elizabeth II’s commitment to peace in the former civil war region. The Queen has not looked at the conflict and social upheavals from afar, Regional Parliament President Alex Maskey said at Hillsborough Castle on Tuesday. Rather, the monarch contributed to breaking down barriers and reconciling.
“She has shown that a small and insignificant gesture – a visit, a handshake, crossing the street or a few words of Irish – can make a huge difference when it comes to changing attitudes and building relationships,” said Maskey. The Queen upheld British and Irish customs alike. “In doing so, she personally underlined that one tradition is not diminished by trying to show respect for another.”
Commentators attributed historical significance to the statements. Maskey is a member of the Catholic-Republican Sinn Fein party, which advocates reunification with EU member Republic of Ireland and was formerly considered the political arm of the terrorist organization IRA. Many Sinn Fein voters strictly reject the monarchy as the representative of a once authoritarian regime. Charles’ great-uncle Louis Mountbatten was assassinated by the IRA in 1979.
Prime Minister-elect Michelle O’Neill, also from Sinn Fein, offered Charles her condolences. The Queen has also always sought good relations with those “who are Irish and have different political affiliations and different aspirations than her and her government,” O’Neill said.
Charles thanked the political representatives for their wishes. “My mother, I know, felt deeply the importance of the role she herself played in bringing together those whom history had separated and reaching out a hand to allow lingering injuries to heal,” said the king. “With this shining example before me, and with God’s help, I take up my new duties determined to strive for the well-being of all residents of Northern Ireland.”
In Britain, meanwhile, concerns about freedom of expression grew after several anti-monarchy protesters were arrested. Ruth Smeeth, head of the Index on Censorship organization, described the events as “very worrying” according to the BBC and demanded that the royal ceremonies should neither intentionally nor unintentionally restrict citizens’ freedom of expression.
Source: Nachrichten
