News / Scotland
The new monarch will travel to Scotland and Northern Ireland at the start of next week, before heading to Wales on Friday.
King Charles III and his Queen Consort are set to tour the four home nations in the coming days ahead of the Queen’s state funeral.
The new monarch will visit Edinburgh, Belfast and Wales alongside wife Camilla and Prime Minister Liz Truss, to hear condolences from politicians across the UK.
On Sunday, after meeting Baroness Scotland, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, at Buckingham Palace, Charles will host High Commissioners and their spouses from countries where he is head of state at the royal residence’s Bow Room.
The King will begin his visit to legislators at London’s Westminster Hall on Monday, where both Houses of Parliament will express their condolences to the new monarch and his wife – and the King will give his reply.
King Charles and his Queen Consort will then fly to Edinburgh where the monarch will inspect the Guard of Honour at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, before attending the ceremony of the Keys on the forecourt.
The King will join his siblings the Princess Royal, Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex as they walk behind the Queen’s coffin when it is moved from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral where it will lie for 24 hours so the public can pay their respects.
Camilla and other members of the family will travel by car and all the royals will attend a service of thanksgiving for the life of the Queen.
At the Palace, the King will hold audiences with the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, followed by an audience with Alison Johnstone, the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.
Words of sympathy will be expressed by the Scottish Parliament when Charles and Camilla attend to receive a motion of condolence, with the King replying.
That evening, the monarch will hold a vigil at the Queen’s coffin with other members of the royal family.
On Tuesday, the King and Queen Consort will then fly to Belfast to visit Hillsborough Castle, where they will view an exhibition about the late Queen’s long association with Northern Ireland.
The King will then meet the Northern Ireland secretary Chris Heaton-Harris and party leaders and receive a message of condolence led by the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, again making his reply.
After a short reception at Hillsborough, the King and Queen Consort will travel to St Anne’s Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection and before the event Charles will meet leaders from all the major faiths in Northern Ireland.
The royal couple will then return to London.
In a tribute to his late mother, the King will lead Wednesday’s procession behind the gun carriage carrying her coffin to Westminster Hall, where the lying in state will begin before her state funeral on September 19.
A trip to Wales is scheduled for Friday, with details to be released at a later date.
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