QUEEN ELIZABETH II has returned to Buckingham Palace in London and her family, who turned out to witness the arrival of her coffin at the royal residence.
Standing at the grand entrance, King Charles III and the Queen Consort were surrounded by the late monarch’s children and grandchildren and their partners, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The coffin will lie at rest in the palace’s bow room tonight before the public can pay their respects when the queen lies in state at the ancient Westminster Hall for four days.
Princess Anne, who has travelled with the queen on her journey from Balmoral to London via Edinburgh alongside husband Tim Laurence, issued a moving tribute to her mother after the military plane carrying her coffin arrived at London’s RAF Northolt.
Anne said she was “fortunate” to be able to share “the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life” in a statement, adding: “It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys.
“Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting.
“We will all share unique memories. I offer my thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss.”
The queen’s coffin was this evening transported in a new state hearse designed by Jaguar Land Rover and the Royal Household, with the late monarch consulted on the plans, said Buckingham Palace.
As it travelled, sections of busy roads like the A40 came to a stop with drivers stood by the central reservation watching while the public lined the pavements.
On the steps of the grand entrance to Buckingham Palace, Charles and Camilla were joined by William, Kate, Meghan and Harry along with the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children Lady Louise and Viscount Severn, the Duke of York and his daughters Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank and Princess Beatrice and her spouse Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Lady Sarah Chatto and Earl Snowdon, the children of Princess Margaret, the queen’s sister, were among the group to pay their respects to their aunt.
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