Queen hailed in Scotland as a ‘constant in all our lives’

EDINBURGH, Scotland — As Queen Elizabeth II’s four children walked silently behind, a hearse carried her flag-draped coffin Monday along a crowd-lined street in the Scottish capital to a cathedral, where a service of thanksgiving hailed the late monarch as a “constant in all of our lives for over 70 years.”

Four days after the 96-year-old queen died at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands, a military bagpiper played as her oak coffin, draped in the red-and-yellow Royal Standard of Scotland, was borne from the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh in a solemn procession.

King Charles III, dressed in army uniform, and his siblings Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward walked behind as the hearse traveled to St. Giles’ Cathedral, flanked by a bearer party of the Royal Regiment of Scotland and a detachment of the Royal Company of Archers, the king’s ceremonial bodyguard in Scotland.

Inside the church, the coffin was placed on a wooden stand and topped with the golden Crown of Scotland, encrusted with 22 gems and 20 precious stones along with freshwater pearls from Scotland’s rivers.

“And so we gather, to bid Scotland’s farewell to our late monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate. And whose love for Scotland was legendary,” said the Rev. Calum MacLeod.

Because the queen died at her summer home of Balmoral, Scotland has been the focus of the world’s attention for the first part of Britain’s 10 days of national mourning.

Large crowds have lined the route as her coffin journeyed from the castle to Edinburgh, underscoring the deep bond between the queen and Scotland.

That bond persisted even as relations soured between the Conservative U.K. government in London and the pro-independence Scottish administration in Edinburgh. Church of Scotland Moderator Iain Greenshields said “most of us cannot recall a time when she was not our monarch.”

“Committed to the role she assumed in 1952 upon the death of her beloved father, she has been a constant in all of our lives for over 70 years,” he said. “She was determined to see her work as a form of service to others.”

The coffin will remain at the cathedral until Tuesday so the public can pay their respects. Thousands of people lined the 0.7-mile (1 kilometer) route between palace and cathedral, some arriving hours early to catch a glimpse.

“I just wanted to be here, just to show … last respects. I cannot believe she is dead,” said Marilyn Mclear, a 70-year-old retired teacher. “I know she was 96, but I just cannot believe the queen’s dead.”

One man shouted at the passing hearse, while others called out: “God save the king!” But the procession was greeted mostly with a respectful silence under a blue sky flecked with clouds.