King Charles III leads mourners at St Giles' Cathedral service of thanksgiving for the Queen

Prime Minister Liz Truss and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon joined the King at a service of thanksgiving for the Queen in one of Scotland's most ancient churches.

In the same Scots kirk where she received the Honours of Scotland just weeks after her Coronation in 1953, the Crown of Scotland was placed on the late monarch’s Royal Standard for Scotland draped coffin.

The importance of her reign in Scotland was reaffirmed when the oldest regalia on the British Isles was placed on the coffin by the Duke of Hamilton, the most senior peer in the country, who climbed three wooden steps and placed the Crown of Scotland on the coffin.

Read more: Queen was at happiest while staying at Balmoral

Made for James V in 1540, the circlet at the base is made from Scottish gold, encrusted with 22 gemstones and 20 precious stones taken from the previous crown. Freshwater pearls from Scotland's rivers were also used.

(left to right) Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence, King Charles III, the Princess Royal and the Duke of York join the procession of Queen Elizabeth's coffin from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh for a Service of Prayer and

As the great and the good took their seats in the grand surroundings of St Giles’ Cathedral, thousands of people lined the streets of Edinburgh as King Charles III led a procession, along with the Duke of York, the Princess Royal, and the Earl of Wessex from the Palace of Holyrood House along the Royal Mile.

The autumn sun broke through and shone on the sandstone pillars of the 900-year-old historic kirk as the congregation felt the shudder of the 21-gun salute which was part of the procession.

Her coffin was carried into St Giles' Cathedral by soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Scotland where it was placed on the catafalque where it will be at rest for 24 hours before beginning the journey to London later today ahead of next Monday’s state funeral.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex and the Duke of York leave St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, following a Service of Prayer and Reflection for her life. Photo credit: Russell Cheyne/PA Wire.

A simple wreath was placed on the oak coffin which included Balmoral heather while the flag of St Andrews and the Lion Rampant were placed nearby.

King Charles accompanied by the Queen Consort and senior royals - the Duke of York, The Princess Royal and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence, the Earl and the Countess of Wessex - joined hundreds of people from all walks of life and who had in some way been connected to the Queen during her reign.

While it was a service attended by past and present Prime Minister's and First Minister's and several Knights of the Order of Thistle, this was no state funeral and there seemed to be an intimacy to the service as Scotland bid farewell to the Queen, but this service of thanksgiving was also the Queen’s farewell to Scotland.

The Earl of Wessex, the Countess of Wessex and the Duke of York leave St Giles' Cathedral after a Service of Prayer and Reflection for Queen Elizabeth's life. Picture credit: Euan Cherry/Daily Mail/PA Wire.

Rev Calum McLeod, of St Giles said this was a place of history where John Knox had once stood which has acted as a Parliament at times, but today was a place to "gather to bid Scotland's farewell to our last monarch, whose life of service to the nation and the world we celebrate and whose love for Scotland was legendary."

Representatives of Scottish charities, members of the armed forces, veterans and consular officials joined dignitaries at the Royal Mile kirk to pay their respects.

Prime Minister Liz Truss before the start of the Service of Prayer and Reflection for the Life of Queen Elizabeth at St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. Picture credit: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.

The Moderator of the General Assembly in his homily in memory of the Queen said it was beginning to sink in that she has now gone.

Rt Rev Dr Greenshields said: “These last few days, as tributes to her Majesty have poured in and we have watched images of her on screen from her earliest years, capturing that remarkable life, yet now beginning to sink in that she is gone from us – "gone home" to express her own words.

“Today, we gather in this place of worship and throughout the nation, to express our thanks to God, for her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's extraordinary life.

“We are united in sorrow at the death of our Monarch, but we are also so aware that His Majesty King Charles and all his family are not just grieving the loss of their Queen, but their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother too.”

King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex walk behind Queen Elizabeth's coffin during the procession from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh. Photo credit: Jeff J Mitchell/PA Wire.

Dr Greenshields said the Queen began her reign, like King Solomon by asking for wisdom, something he said that she demonstrated in large measure and to which was added duty, honour, commitment, and faith.

“These are the words that we reach for today to describe the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth, whose passing is mourned not only in her native land but across the Commonwealth and the world, as has been so evident to us in recent days,” he added.

As has been evident from the Queen’s final days has been her love of Scotland and even her final gift was to show the beauty of Scotland on the six-hour journey from Balmoral to Edinburgh on Sunday.

Dr Greenshields added it was here in Scotland we acknowledge with gratitude her deep links with "our land and its people."

He said: “Her love of the Balmoral estate is well known and being there latterly brought her great comfort.

“There she was valued as a neighbour and a friend and there she drew strength and refreshment during the summer months.

“She was active in the life of civic Scotland, travelling across the country to support numerous causes, entertaining guests at Holyrood Palace and presiding at ceremonial events, many of which took place in this Church.

“Here she received the Scottish crown in 1953, an event vividly memorialised in the painting by the Orcadian artist Stanley Cursiter.

“Her links with the Scottish churches were also deep and lasting.

“She was the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, but she worshipped in the Church of Scotland here north of the border, at Canongate Kirk and especially at Crathie Kirk where she took her pew each Sunday morning, prevented from doing so latterly only by infirmity.

“She perceived little difficulty in belonging to two Churches and appreciating the strength of each.”

The choice of music played before the Royal Family arrived at the cathedral reflected Scotland with two pieces by Sir James MacMillan – Offertorium and Mitte manum tuam – and Farewell to Stromness by Peter Maxwell Davies, former Master of the Queen’s Music. There was a contrast in the choice of the rousing hymn All people that on earth do dwell with the Psalm 118 I shall not die, but live, and shall the works of God discover sung by Karen Matheson.

Royal Archers at St Giles' Cathedral for a Service of Prayer and Reflection for Queen Elizabeth's life. Photo: Euan Cherry/Daily Mail/PA Wire..

The final Psalm 23 the Lord's My Shepherd which was sung at her wedding to Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in 1947.

In a reading by the First Minister of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-15, Nicola Sturgeon read: “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die,” with the passage continuing “a time to break down, and a time to build up.”

As the service drew to a close for the national anthem of God Save the King, it was the final duty of Queen’s Royal Company of Archers, the Sovereign’s Body Guard in Scotland, to protect their Queen for one last time.

Dressed in their dark green tunic with black facings, dark green trousers with black and crimson stripe, and a Balmoral bonnet with the Royal Company's badge and an eagle feather, four of them took up their places around her coffin to signify the beginning of the 24 hour vigil.