Princess Anne has paid tribute to her beloved mother the Queen in an emotional statement.
Her Majesty died on September 8 at her Balmoral estate at the age of 96.
While numerous royal family members rushed to be by the Queen’s side, Anne was one of the first to make it due to already being in Scotland when the news broke.
As a result, Anne has revealed that she treasured spending her mother’s final hours by her side.
“I was fortunate to share the last 24 hours of my dearest mother’s life,” Anne said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Anne accompanied the hearse carrying the Queen’s coffin to Edinburgh Airport.
The coffin was then flown to RAF Northolt and taken to London where Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall from Wednesday.
Opening up about being with Her Majesty on her “final journey,” Anne said the reaction from the nation had helped keep her spirits high during such a sombre time.
Princess Anne pays tribute to the Queen
“It has been an honour and a privilege to accompany her on her final journeys,” she said in a statement. “Witnessing the love and respect shown by so many on these journeys has been both humbling and uplifting.
“We will all share unique memories. I offer my thanks to each and every one who share our sense of loss.
“We may have been reminded how much of her presence and contribution to our national identity we took for granted. I am also so grateful for the support and understanding offered to my dear brother Charles as he accepts the added responsibilities of The Monarch.”
She added: “To my mother, the Queen, thank you.”
Meanwhile, the Queen’s coffin arrived at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening, where thousands had waited patiently in the rain.
Before making its way to London, the Queen’s coffin was taken on a journey through Edinburgh.
Lord Ian Duncan, the deputy speaker in the House of Lords, said crowds along the Royal Mile were “10-deep”.
“The sheer quantity of individuals moving into Edinburgh today [indicates] that there will be many tens – possibly even hundreds – of thousands of people who will wish to pay their respects to the late Queen,” he said.
“That is an extraordinary outpouring of respect, grief, celebration of an extraordinary woman,” he continued.
Lord Duncan went on to add that the crowds were so crammed that many had to be turned away out of safety fears.
He added: “By goodness, they were 10-deep. They had to stop people because it would have become dangerous.
“The streets around were crammed. As people wait to walk past the coffin itself, the expectation of the numbers and the sheer quantity of humanity in Edinburgh today is extraordinary.”
Boris Johnson on their final meeting
Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared this week that the Queen was “not well” during her final days.
“She seemed very bright, very focused. Look, she was clearly not well, I think that was the thing I found so moving when we all heard about her death two days later,” he told the BBC.
He added: “I just thought how incredible that her sense of duty had kept her going in the way that it had. Given how ill she obviously was, how amazing that she should be so bright and so focused. So it was a pretty emotional time.”
Read more: Princess Anne comforted as she curtseys to Queen’s coffin leaving royal fans in tears
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