The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II has arrived at Buckingham Palace in London after the 96-year-old monarch’s death in her beloved Scotland last week.

The military C-17 Globemaster carrying the monarch’s casket touched down at RAF Northolt, an air force base west of the city, about an hour after it left Edinburgh on Tuesday.

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and a military honor guard were among those greeting the coffin before it was loaded into a hearse. Motorists pulled over and stopped in a show of respect as the illuminated hearse traveled under police escort on a London highway.

Crowds gathered on London's streets to cheer and weep as the motorcade proceeded to Buckingham Palace, where the country’s new King Charles III, the late queen’s oldest son, and other members of Elizabeth’s immediate family met the hearse at the ceremonial gates.

The coffin will spend a final night at the queen’s London home. A horse-drawn gun carriage is expected to take it Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament to lie in state for four days before a Monday funeral at Westminster Abbey.

The queen died Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle in northern Scotland after 70 years on the throne.

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LONDON — Motorists pulled over and stopped in a show of respect as the hearse carrying Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin traveled under police escort on a London highway on the way to Buckingham Palace.

The 96-year-old monarch died last week in her beloved Scotland last week. A military C-17 Globemaster carrying her casket touched down at RAF Northolt, an air force base west of the city, about an hour after it left Edinburgh on Tuesday.

U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, Defense Secretary Ben Wallace and a military honor guard were among those greeting the coffin before it was loaded into the hearse. As night fell, a line of headlights on the opposite side of the highway illuminated the route to the palace.

Crowds have gathered along the route the motorcade took to Buckingham Palace, where the late queen’s oldest son and heir, who is now known as King Charles III, and other members of Elizabeth’s immediate family plan to meet the hearse on Tuesday night.

The queen died Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle in northern Scotland after 70 years on the throne.

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LONDON — King Charles III has returned to London from Northern Ireland, where his visit in the wake of his mother’s death drew a rare moment of unity.

The king is to meet Queen Elizabeth II’s casket at Buckingham Palace, where it will spend the night at the queen’s London home.

Plans call for the casket to be taken Wednesday on a horse-drawn gun carriage to the Houses of Parliament, where the queen’s body will lie in state for four days before Monday’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.

Earlier Tuesday, the speaker of Northern Ireland’s Assembly delivered a message of condolence to Charles and paid tribute to the late queen. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but the region with a contested British and Irish identity is deeply divided over the monarchy.

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EDINBURGH, Scotland — The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is on its way to London.

A bagpiper played as the coffin, draped with the royal standard, was carried out of St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

The queen’s daughter, Princess Anne, was in the hearse and was also to board a Royal Air Force plane taking the coffin from the Scottish capital’s airport.

Applause broke out among the crowds lining the Royal Mile as the hearse passed through the historic heart of Edinburgh.

Thousands of people filed silently past the coffin as it spent 24 hours in the cathedral after being brought to Edinburgh from the queen’s beloved Balmoral Estate. She died there Thursday at age 96, ending her 70-year reign.

King Charles III is returning from Belfast to London to receive his mother’s coffin, which will stay overnight at Buckingham Palace.

The coffin will be taken Wednesday to the Houses of Parliament, where it will lie in state for four days before Monday’s funeral.

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BELFAST, Northern Ireland — A crowd cheered King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, as they arrived at St. Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast as part of the new monarch’s first visit to Northern Ireland.

The sovereign received a similarly warm welcome earlier in the day at Hillsborough Castle, the royal residence in Northern Ireland.

A service of reflection at St. Anne’s Cathedral for the king’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, began with a trumpet fanfare by the band of the Royal Irish Regiment.

The leaders of Britain and Ireland joined politicians from Northern Ireland in the congregation. They included British Prime Minister Liz Truss, her Irish counterpart Micheal Martin and Irish President Michael D. Higgins.

Clergy praised the queen’s role in helping bring peace to Northern Ireland. Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell said the queen “walked the hard road of reconciliation.”

Services are being held in the capitals of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales ahead of the queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday.

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BELFAST, Northern Ireland — The speaker of Northern Ireland’s Assembly has delivered a message of condolence to King Charles III, paying tribute to his late mother Queen Elizabeth II’s efforts to build peace in Ireland.

Alex Maskey said Tuesday the queen had not been “a distant observer” in Northern Ireland’s peace process. He said she showed “how individual acts of positive leadership can help break down barriers and encourage reconciliation.”

“She showed that a small and insignificant gesture – a visit, a handshake, crossing the street or speaking a few words of Irish – can make a huge difference in changing attitudes and building relationships,” he said.

Charles and his wife, Camilla, listened to Maskey’s speech before meeting with Northern Ireland’s party leaders, including Michelle O’Neill, vice president of the Irish republican party Sinn Féin.

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BELFAST, Northern Ireland — King Charles III has pledged to follow in the footsteps of his late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, and work for peace in Northern Ireland.

Speaking Tuesday to Northern Ireland’s political leaders, including those from nationalist parties who want Northern Ireland to leave the United Kingdom and become part of the Republic of Ireland, the new monarch said he would draw on his mother’s “shining example” and seek the welfare of everyone in Northern Ireland.

The British monarchy draws mixed emotions in Northern Ireland, where Protestant unionists consider themselves British and Roman Catholic nationalists see themselves as Irish.

The political and religious divisions fueled three decades of violence known as “the Troubles,” involving paramilitary groups on both sides and U.K. security forces, in which 3,600 people died.

Irish nationalist Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly praised Queen Elizabeth II’s role in the peace process, in a message of condolence to King Charles III.

Alex Maskey, a member of Sinn Fein, said at the Belfast ceremony that the example of the queen had helped “break down barriers and encourage reconciliation” in Northern Ireland.

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NEW YORK — U.S. First Lady Jill Biden has shared her memories of Queen Elizabeth II, recalling when she and President Joe Biden met the British monarch at Windsor Castle in June 2021.

The visit came shortly after the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, had died after 73 years of marriage. Even though the Bidens had been instructed not to raise the subject of family, the queen began talking about just that.

“I think she just wanted to talk about her husband,” Jill Biden said in a taped interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC’s “Today.”

The queen poured tea for her visitors, showed her independence and also her curiosity, Jill Biden said.

“You know, she wanted to know all about American politics, what was happening, so she put us at ease,” she said.