Public gets chance to view queen’s coffin in Edinburgh
By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — In a first official statement since the queen’s death, her grandson Prince Harry has hailed her as a “guiding compass” and praised her “unwavering grace and dignity.
The personal statement, posted Monday on Harry and his wife Meghan’s Archwell website, said he cherished their times together “from my earliest childhood memories with you, to meeting you for the first time as my Commander-in-Chief, to the first moment you met my darling wife and hugged your beloved greatgrandchildren.”
Harry quit as a senior royal and moved to the U.S. two years ago. On Saturday, he and Meghan joined his brother Prince William and his wife Catherine in meeting mourners outside Windsor Castle.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
LONDON (AP) — The first members of the public will have the chance to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday when the monarch’s coffin lies at rest at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.
The start of the working week is another day steeped in the historic pageantry and pomp that follows the death of a British sovereign.
King Charles III will start the day speaking to lawmakers at Parliament in London before flying to Scotland.
On Sunday, thousands of people lined streets and roadsides as the oak coffin was borne from the late queen’s beloved Balmoral Castle summer retreat, where she died on Thursday, to Edinburgh.
The new king, accompanied by his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort, will walk behind his mother’s coffin as it is slowly transported from Holyroodhouse to St. Giles’ Cathedral, where the crown of Scotland will be placed on the coffin ahead of a service of prayer and reflection on the life and 70-year reign of the widely cherished monarch.
The queen’s coffin will lie at the cathedral for 24 hours, giving members of the public a chance to file past and pay their respects. On Tuesday, it will be flown to London where the coffin will lie in state at the Houses of Parliament Palace from Wednesday afternoon until the morning of the funeral on Sept. 19.
Authorities already have issued rules and guidelines for people wanting to pay their respects in London, with a long queue expected.
After visiting Scotland, Charles embarks on a tour of the other nations that make up the United Kingdom — he visits the Northern Ireland capital, Belfast, on Tuesday and Wales on Friday.
