Queen’s coffin seen for the first time as it leaves Balmoral

The Queen’s coffin has been seen for the first time as it begins its slow journey from Balmoral to Edinburgh.

Draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland and featuring a wreath of flowers on top, the oak coffin is travelling from the royal castle to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

As the hearse left the Balmoral estate, members of the public lined the road to pay their respects and one mourner threw flowers at the vehicle, as police officers bowed their heads.

Following the Queen’s death on Thursday, the coffin had remained at rest in the Balmoral ballroom to give estate workers there the chance to say goodbye for the last time.

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Six of the estate’s gamekeepers lifted the coffin into a hearse at 10am, marking the start of the cortege’s six-hour journey to the Scottish capital.

Nicola Sturgeon, the country’s first minister, said the “poignant” journey would give people in Scotland the chance to come together to “mark our country’s shared loss”.

Today’s road journey will:

• Reach Ballater at around 10.12am
• Make its way through Aboyne, Banchory, Peterculter
• Arrive in Aberdeen at around 11.20am, moving through the city’s suburbs
• Move through Porthleven, Stonehaven before heading inland
• Head through the Angus countryside and past Brechin
• Arrive in Dundee at around 2.15pm, where it will go around the city on the Kingsway
• Head towards Perth, across the Friarton Bridge and down the M90
• Go over the Queensferry Crossing towards Edinburgh
• Enter Edinburgh from the west, skirting by Edinburgh Castle
• Travel down the full length of the Royal Mile to the Palace of Holyroodhouse by about 4pm

An “unprecedented” amount of preparation has gone into planning the route, planning bosses said.

Ms Sturgeon and other party leaders in Scotland are expected to observe the coffin as it makes its way past the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

After being taken into the Palace of Holyroodhouse, it will remain there for the night.

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Public viewing of the coffin begins at 5pm on Monday but people have been warned of long waits, and photography and recording is strictly prohibited.

Princess Anne will fly to London with her mother’s body on Tuesday.

The events in Scotland are the first meticulously planned steps leading to the funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday 19 September – a day that will be a bank holiday.