An RAF C-17 Globemaster III aircraft was used to transport the Queen’s coffin to London, touching down at RAF Northolt.
The Royal family greeted Her Majesty The Queen’s coffin on its arrival at Buckingham Palace.
Standing at the grand entrance, King Charles III and his Queen Consort were surrounded by the late monarch’s children and grandchildren and their partners, including the Prince and Princess of Wales and Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
For one night the coffin will lie at rest in the palace’s bow room before the monarch is handed to the nation to allow the public to pay their respects when she lies in state at the ancient Westminster Hall for four days.
The Princess Royal, who has travelled with the Queen on her journey from Balmoral to London via Edinburgh alongside her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, issued a moving tribute to her mother after the Royal Air Force aircraft carrying her coffin arrived at London’s RAF Northolt.
Anne said she was “fortunate” to be able to share “the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life” in a statement, adding: “It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys.
“Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting.
“We will all share unique memories. I offer my thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss.”
It was an RAF C-17 Globemaster aircraft that was used to transport the Queen’s coffin to London, using the call sign ‘Kittyhawk’ for the final time.
The C-17 Globemaster, which has been used extensively in humanitarian efforts such as evacuating thousands of people from Afghanistan and carrying supplies to Ukraine, took off from Edinburgh Airport with Princess Anne also on board.
Once touched down in London, the Queen’s coffin was transported in a new state hearse designed by Jaguar Land Rover and the Royal Household, with the late monarch consulted on the plans, said Buckingham Palace.
With a glass roof and large side windows, it was designed to give members of the public a clear view and featured interior lights that shone brightly as they illuminated the coffin draped in a royal standard with a wreath of Balmoral blooms.
On the steps of the grand entrance, Charles and Camilla were joined by William, Kate, Meghan and Harry along with the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children Lady Louise and Viscount Severn, the Duke of York and his daughters Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank and Princess Beatrice and her spouse Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Lady Sarah Chatto and Earl Snowdon, the children of Princess Margaret the Queen’s sister, were among the group to pay their respects to their aunt.
Standing in the palace’s quadrangle was a guard of honour formed from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards and they gave the royal salute as the hearse came to a stop.
The bearer party, from the Queen’s Company 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards, carried the coffin into the bow room and the sovereign’s piper, Pipe Major Paul Burns of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, played a lament.
Articles courtesy: https://www.forces.net/
