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Tthe people of scotland, from prime ministers to benefactors, have said an emotional farewell to their queen as her coffin was laid to rest in the “parish church of edinburgh” where she first received the crown of scotland 69 years ago.
Hymns the Queen used to sing at Crathie Kirk on the Balmoral estate were set to soaring organ music as hundreds of dignitaries attended a service of thanksgiving for her life at St Giles’ Cathedral.
Thousands of members of what the minister of St. Giles’, Calum MacLeod described as “a grieving nation”, with rucksacks full of sandwiches and folding beach chairs, queued patiently to drive by and say goodbye.
Among those who paid their respects in the Gothic cathedral, known as the “High Kirk” in Edinburgh, was Gordon Brown, who stood jaw-dropped as he watched King Charles and his siblings walk behind their mother’s coffin as it was carefully carried on a catafalque to lay at rest for 24 hours. Also planning to say goodbye was Gary Birsdall, a recently homeless person who joined the snaking line of people waiting to walk past her coffin to simply “say thank you”. And there was Simon Cook, who had brought his three teenage children from Livingston to witness what his 18-year-old son Conor said was “a bit of history”.
“She was our queen, but she was also part of something so much bigger,” Simon said. “This is a massive shift for the country and the world.”
At 3.15pm, the Queen’s coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, was slowly carried into the chancel by eight military personnel and lifted into place amid a forest of sandstone pillars.
It was the start of a process which the Duke of York was heard describing to a member of the public at Balmoral on Saturday as “handing her over” from the family.
As King Charles, Camilla, the Queen Consort and other members of the party looked on, the Scottish Crown, dating to 1540 and James V, was placed carefully on top. Beside it was a wreath of white roses, chrysanthemums, dried white lavender from Balmoral and rosemary. The service pulsed with history. MacLeod reminded the congregation that the cathedral had been the place where John Knox confronted Mary Queen of Scots and where Oliver Cromwell preached. There was the 17th century music of Henry Purcell’s Thou Knowest, Lord, the Secrets of Our Hearts, which was sung with breathtaking beauty by the choir as the congregation fell – and remained – perfectly still for 45 minutes before the cortege arrived.
Again and again there were moments during the hour-long service when Scotland seemed to embrace the Queen.
Karen Matheson, the popular and charismatic singer who rose to fame with the folk group Capercaillie and an outspoken supporter of Scottish independence, sang in Gaelic a haunting version of Psalm 118:17 (“I shall not die, but live, and shall discover the works of God” ), set to harp.
“We gather to say farewell to Scotland to our late monarch, whose love for Scotland was legendary,” MacLeod said.
The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Church of Scotland General Assembly, described her “kind heart and gentle humour” and stressed that when she was at Balmoral she was a “neighbor and friend” to many. “We gratefully acknowledge her deep connections with our country and its people,” he said.
On the other side of the coffin sat the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who less than a week ago shook the Queen’s hand after being asked to form a new government. Now she mourned the longest reign of a monarch in British history. In the next seat was Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, who gave a reading from Ecclesiastes 3 (“For to everything there is a time and a time to every matter under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die “.)
It was only possible to imagine King Charles’s thoughts as she ended with the line: “That which is, has already been; that which shall be, already is.”
Stør bowed before the Queen’s casket as she returned to her seat.
Among the groups from across the Scottish community present inside the cathedral were representatives from Scottish charities of which the Queen is patron, including Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the Scottish Football Association.
After the congregation, including former SNP leader Alex Salmond, former Liberal Democrat leaders David Steel and Menzies Campbell and former Labor defense minister George Robertson, pulled out, the cathedral was handed over to the public and will remain open to those who have secured say wristband to get access until Tuesday afternoon.
Shortly after the public began filing in, the king and the rest of his siblings – Prince Andrew, Princess Anne and Prince Edward – stood vigil over the casket. They took their places on the four sides of the oak coffin and stood with four suited members of the Royal Company of Archers, who stood guard dressed in plumed hats and armed with longbows and a quiver of arrows.
The Queen Consort and Countess of Wessex sat in seats opposite the coffin, while the vigil, which began at 19.46 and ended at 19.56, took place. The archers have completed a 20-minute vigil at the casket.
Among those queuing earlier in the day was Jo Williams, 41, a former prison officer who had driven up from Manchester on Sunday night and was queuing at the cathedral at 5.45.
“Just the fact that I wore the crown for 15 years [on her prison officer epaulettes] … I just have a great respect for the monarchy,” she said. “I like Charles. There were a few points I was unsure about him, but to see him now, he’s been fantastic. He was in the public outside [Buckingham] Palace [on Friday]. He still has the old-fashioned values of his mother, but he is quite forward-looking.”
“I have great respect for the Queen but also for Charles,” added Pete Binder, 60, who had driven down from the north coast of Scotland to be one of the first to pay his respects to the Queen. “I think he will be a brilliant king. I think he connects with people.”
Jen Cresswell arrived around
“I can’t think of anything more British than being well organized in a queue,” she said.
Cresswell, who lives in Edinburgh, said the Queen’s death at Balmoral allowed her “a Scottish farewell”. “Events like this can be very London-centric, but the Queen had a very personal connection with the people of Scotland. Although there was great respect, she was also one of us.”
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