Queen's coffin arrives in Edinburgh on solemn final journey

Tens of thousands of mourners lined the route of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral cortege as it left the Scottish retreat where she died, to bid farewell to their longest serving monarch.

The hearse carrying the 96-year-old's oak coffin, draped in the Royal Standard of Scotland, was driven from the Balmoral estate through Aberdeen and Dundee to the capital Edinburgh, where the streets were packed with well-wishers.

Some applauded, some cried, and then they fell silent as the coffin reached the Palace of Holyroodhouse, met by senior royals including the queen's daughter Anne, who curtseyed as it was carried inside.

"It was a very big sense of loss, but a sense of closure as well when you saw the coffin go past," said onlooker Lucy Hampshire, who came from the northern English city of York.

The queen died after a record-breaking seven decades on the throne, her son Charles immediately taking over as king of the UK and 14 other realms.

Her coffin will be held overnight at Holyroodhouse -- the monarch's official residence in Scotland -- and Charles III will lead it in procession to the nearby St Giles' Cathedral.

It will be flown to London on Tuesday for four days of lying-in-state before the funeral on September 19, an event expected to be attended by heads of state and watched by millions of viewers worldwide.