The coffin, installed in the castle ballroom and guarded by service personnel, will be transferred to Edinburgh tomorrow
Balmoral Castle, located deep in the Scottish highlands, was Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘favorite home’, where she hunted, rode horses and kept her ‘corgi’ dogs. It was there where she died last Thursday and where she has received a heartfelt tribute from all her neighbors, who considered her someone very close to her. The surroundings of the official summer residence have been filled these days with flowers and messages of affection.
The coffin was installed in the ballroom, where Elizabeth II made her debut at the age of twelve in society at The Gillies Ball. The party is a tradition implanted by Queen Victoria after buying Balmoral in 1852, in which the royal family offers a dance to the closest service personnel and officials.
It was precisely those most trusted assistants who guarded the monarch’s coffin this Saturday, waiting for tomorrow to be transferred to Holyrood Palace, in Edinburgh, and later to St. Giles Cathedral, on the royal mile of the Scottish capital. The coffin is covered by the royal standard of Elizabeth II, which represents the monarch and is made up of heraldic symbols belonging to England, Scotland and Ireland.
It is unknown if the installation of the coffin in the ballroom was an express wish of the queen and as such was included in the so-called ‘Unicorn Operation’, the protocol activated in the event that the death occurred in Balmoral, as has happened. For Elizabeth II that room was a special place, of which very popular images have remained, such as the one from 1972 in which she is seen accompanied by her Queen Mother, arm in arm with Philip of Edinburgh dressed in a Scottish skirt.
The farewell at Balmoral has been more intimate than the ones that follow. Carlos III, proclaimed this Saturday king in London, and his sons Guillermo and Enrique left the castle on Friday. A private mass was celebrated today at the nearby Crathie Kirk church, attended by the other three children of Elizabeth II – Ana, Eduardo and Andrés – with their respective families.
Members of the royal family arrived at the church in jeeps and left on foot to thank the people for their support and read the messages that had been left next to the flowers. «They have allowed us one day. Now we start the process of handing her over,” explained Prince Andrew, who stepped down from his royal duties in 2019 over his friendship with alleged American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Her daughter Eugenia was moved when she read the notes that the citizens had deposited.
“special” gesture
The neighbors who had come to the castle appreciated the gesture. “It was very special that they reached out and we were able to show them our support,” said Ian Smith, a local businessman.
After this discreet farewell at Balmoral, the coffin will travel tomorrow by land to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, an ancient fortress that was the residence of the kings of Scotland in Edinburgh. Later you will move to St. Giles Cathedral, built in the 12th century by King Alexander I and dedicated to the popular patron saint of lepers, nursing mothers and the lame.
In this cathedral there will be a vigil of the male members of the royal family and, later for 24 hours, the public will have the opportunity to pay a last tribute on the coffin of the queen. The coffin will rest on a catafalque and the burning chapel will be identical to that of her mother, the Queen Mother Elizabeth. St. Giles will host the first mass bath in the ten days leading up to her funeral at Westminster Abbey.
#Balmoral #fires #queen