Queen's final Scottish journey charts a life of service

Queen Elizabeth II left her beloved Balmoral for the final time on Sunday on a journey that will stir memories of her life of service.

Her cortege is wending its way through villages and towns she knew well. It will skirt cities where she opened hospitals, congratulated business leaders, met schoolchildren and greeted well-wishers.

As well as the villages of Aberdeenshire, where she was considered a neighbour as much as a monarch, it will travel through Aberdeen, then south through Angus, Dundee, Perth and Fife.

Symbolically, Her Majesty's coffin will be taken over Queensferry Crossing - a structure she opened in 2017.

Along this journey to her final resting place will be the visible signs of the role she played in shaping modern Scotland.

After the Royal cortege left Balmoral it passed close to Crathie Kirk - the church where the Royal family have worshipped since Queen Victoria in 1848.

It was an important place to Queen Elizabeth, a woman of great faith. Just last weekend she hosted the Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, the moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

He said she was "obviously frail...[but] absolutely on the ball", adding that she was "very much very engaged with what was happening in the church and what was happening in the nation too".

It was also a link to the local community, which included the nearby village of Ballater, where she was considered a local by many.

After flooding caused millions of pounds worth of damage in 2015, the late Queen later met residents affected in an official visit and praised local efforts to recover.