[Source: BBC News]

Queen Elizabeth II’s cortege has arrived in Edinburgh following a six-hour journey from Balmoral.

Mourners lined the streets as the hearse travelled from Aberdeenshire to the Palace of Holyroodhouse, where her coffin will rest overnight.

Her coffin will then lie under vigil in Edinburgh’s St Giles’ Cathedral on Monday before heading to London ahead of her funeral on Monday 19 September.

Crowds have also gathered to hear King Charles III proclaimed across the UK.

Mourners lined streets in cities, towns and villages as the sombre journey continued. [Photo: BBC News]

He will travel up to Scotland on Monday and will be joined by members of the Royal Family as he accompanies his mother’s coffin to the cathedral in the Scottish city.

The Queen’s cortege left her home at Balmoral at around 10:00 BST, winding through Aberdeen and Dundee among other villages and towns, on its way to Edinburgh.

As it drove through Edinburgh city centre, some six hours later, silence fell before there was applause from the crowd that had gathered there.

Princess Royal, Princess Anne, travelled in the second car of the cortege on the 175-mile journey, accompanied by her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

She curtsied as her mother’s coffin was carried into Holyroodhouse – the monarch’s official residence in Scotland.

The Duke of York and Duke and Duchess of Wessex, who were there to receive the coffin, also bowed and curtsied respectively, alongside palace staff.

The Queen’s coffin is carried into Holyroodhouse, where it will lie at rest overnight. [Photo: BBC News]

The country is in a period of national mourning until after the Queen’s funeral next Monday.

A series of constitutional and ceremonial events will take place over the coming days.

Earlier at the start of the journey, six gamekeepers from her Balmoral estate placed the Queen’s oak coffin into a hearse before she left Balmoral, her beloved private Scottish estate, for the final time.

The wreath on top of the coffin features some of the Queen’s favourite flowers, all cut from the estate – white heather, dahlias and sweet peas, phlox and pine fir.

When the cortege reached Ballater, Aberdeenshire – the closest village to Balmoral – flowers were thrown in the road by mourners, many of whom regard the Queen and the Royal Family as neighbours.

The coffin will remain under continuous vigil for 24 hours at St Giles’ Cathedral, with the public able to pay their respects.

A service will be held at the cathedral in the evening.

The following day, Princess Anne will accompany her mother’s coffin as it travels from Edinburgh Airport back to Buckingham Palace, via RAF Northolt.

In Windsor, thousands gathered in the town to pay tribute to the Queen.

Roads were closed, as floral tributes and cards continued to be placed outside the castle gates.

And in Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, thousands more floral tributes were placed in the memory of the Queen.