People applauded and shed tears as they paid their respects to the Queen during her final journey through Tayside and Fife.
Elizabeth II’s cortege drove through Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross and the kingdom on its slow trip from Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday.
People travelled from across Scotland to say goodbye to the UK’s longest-serving monarch – lining the sides of the main dual carriageways running through the region.
One onlooker in Dundee said: “The Queen has always been there for the people, it’s now time for the people to be there for her.”
There was silence as the cortege – led by a hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin, draped in the Royal Standard – emerged from the gates of Balmoral in Aberdeenshire at 10am.
The cortege wound its way through Ballater and Banchory in Aberdeenshire, paying a short visit to the city of Aberdeen itself.
Running slightly behind schedule, the long line of vehicles – which included a car carrying Anne, the Princess Royal, police and other specialist resources – then made steady progress down the A90 to Brechin.
Huge crowds turned out in the town as the procession took a 45-minute break in the grounds of Brechin Castle.
The cortege soon made some time back as it left Brechin and travelled south to meet thousands more lining the A90 near Forfar and the Kingsway in Dundee.
Crowds had waited hours – some with camp chairs, flags and other memorabilia – to catch a glimpse of the hearse.
While it was a sombre and emotional event, there was lots of laughter and smiles as people shared memories of the Queen and made new friends.
Many said they had turned out simply to witness a historic moment.
As the cortege came into Dundee a round of applause broke out among the waiting crowd, but by the time it had travelled along the Kingsway towards Camperdown Park, onlookers had fallen silent.
Many held their mobile phones to film the moment the coffin was driven past.
The voice of one mourner – a former soldier – broke as he told The Courier about his fond memories of the woman he described as his “boss” during a long military career.
Another family, originally from Northern Ireland, had brought their three daughters, aged 5, 7 and 10, dressed up in black party dresses for the occasion for the Queen they “loved”.
Steven Brownlie, heading home after the hearse had passed with wife Claire, and children Chloe, 15, Corey, 13, and Riley, 10, summed it up – saying: “It’s something we will never see again in our lifetimes. That’s why we wanted to bring the kids down.”
Lord Provost Bill Campbell, who joined other dignitaries on a dais near the Swallow Roundabout, said: “The crowds that you saw lining the Kingsway this afternoon demonstrated how much the people of Dundee love the Queen and what they thought of her.
“We’re grateful for everything she’s done. In 1946, she came as Princess Elizabeth and officially open Camperdown Park just over there – so it’s nice that the cortege was running close to it.
“The last time she was here was 2016, when she came officially to open Slessor Gardens at the Waterfront, so we’re hoping King Charles III will continue along and come to Dundee.”
The cortege was given a send-off by a large gathering of people at the Swallow Roundabout – with people standing on the grass verge and the roundabout itself to get a vantage point.
One man called out “thank you, thank you” as it passed.
The cortege then made its way along the A90 in the Carse of Gowrie where hundreds more gathered in laybys and on overpasses to watch as the Queen continued her journey.
Traffic was stopped at various points on the M90 as the procession crossed the Friarton Bridge at Perth and travelled south.
Cars were parked up in laybys, hard shoulders and grass verges to catch a glimpse from the side of the road or from the bridges overhead.
Emma Laing, Jenny Heard and Susie Knox, took their horses, saying it was fitting because the Queen loved her own horses so much.
As the crowds started to gather, it seemed most people were there to be a part of history.
The A90, a road that is normally packed full of traffic between Dundee and Perth, was completely deserted.
Some people were walking out into the middle of the road with their cameras to try and get the first sight of the Queen’s cortege passing through.
Further large crowds gathered on bridges above the motorway in Fife to catch a glimpse of the coffin, with young and old lining every bridge from Kelty to Inverkeithing.
Some people waited for more than three hours to see the procession pass through the kingdom and the crowd swelled as the cortege drew nearer.
Cortege drove over Queensferry Crossing
Then came the iconic moment when Elizabeth II was drive over the Queensferry Crossing – the same bridge she opened in 2017.
Silence fell with a small smattering of applause from those gathered near the Forth.
Peter Sutherland, 71, from Rosyth, was there with grandsons Lewis, 14, and Harris, 9.
He said: “I just wanted to see the cortege. It’s a once in a lifetime thing and she was a great woman.”
Liz Duncan from Dunfermline, wanted to pay respect to “a wonderful lady”.
“It’s very sad but it’s a celebration of everything she delivered in her life,” she said.
“She was someone to be really proud of.”
Meanwhile, Morag Reilly from Limekilns, just wanted to say goodbye.
“It’s something we’ll never see again,” she said.
“We’ll never have another Queen in my lifetime.”
The final part of the Queen’s journey took her to the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, before a ceremony takes place in the capital on Monday.
Elsewhere, more locals turned up at Glamis Castle – the ancestral home of the Queen Mother – where the Queen spent childhood holidays.
And proclamation events took place across Tayside and Fife to welcome in King Charles III.
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