WATCH LIVE: Queen Elizabeth II's coffin arrives at Buckingham Palace. ABC News Special Report now
The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II returned to Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening, making its way through a drizzly London as crowds lined the route for a glimpse of the hearse and to bid her a final farewell.
Charles had returned to London from Northern Ireland, where his visit drew a rare moment of unity from politicians in a region with a contested British and Irish identity that is deeply divided over the monarchy.The military C-17 Globemaster carrying the monarch's casket touched down at RAF Northolt, an air force base in the west of the city, about an hour after it left Edinburgh. U.K.
"Scotland has now bid our Queen of Scots a sad, but fond farewell," said Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. "We will not see her like again." While there was a warm welcome in Hillsborough, the British monarchy draws mixed emotions in Northern Ireland, where there are two main communities: mostly Protestant unionists who consider themselves British and largely Roman Catholic nationalists who see themselves as Irish.