Piper's lament for Queen Mother

The coffin will lie in state at Westminster Hall

A lone piper played one of the Queen Mother's favourite laments as her coffin began its journey from Windsor to St James's Palace in London.

Jim Motherwell, the Queen's Piper, led members of the Queen Mother's staff at Royal Lodge as they accompanied the coffin from the chapel at 1200 BST.

He played the Dark Island Lament as her coffin - draped in her personal Royal standard featuring the Lion Rampant - began its journey on Tuesday.

Queen's Piper Jim Motherwell plays out the coffin

There will be a further acknowledgement of the Queen Mother's Scottish roots on Friday when her coffin is moved to Westminster Hall to lie in state.

Some 1,700 service personnel from the UK and Commonwealth Armed Forces will march in the procession.

Among them will be an officer and three men from the Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment), of which the Queen Mother was colonel in chief.

The regiment's Colonel, Brigadier Garry Burnett, will also be one of the pall bearers who will flank a gun carriage of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, which will bear the coffin.

Ceremonial funeral

The A (London Scottish) Company, the London Regiment, will also provide an officer and three men for the procession.

The procession will signal the beginning of the main ceremonial event following the death of the Queen Mother on Saturday at the age of 101.

Her funeral, which will be held on Tuesday 9 April, is planned to be a Royal ceremonial funeral, with protocol dictating that state funerals are reserved for heads of state.

	Scotland held a special place in the Queen Mother's heart  Scotland's Queen of Hearts

Books of condolence have been opened at venues across Scotland, including the Queen Mother's childhood home, Glamis Castle in Angus, and her Highland residence, the Castle of Mey.

On Monday 41-gun salutes were sounded at a dozen locations across the UK and Gibraltar, including Edinburgh and Stirling Castles.

Crowds gathered at some sites along the coffin's route through London on Tuesday.

They included mature student Jennifer Pressley, 38, from Edinburgh, who waited more than three hours to see the convoy.

"To see the coffin, draped in the Queen Mother's own standard, was quite an emotional experience," she said.

"I've always liked the Queen Mother. She was so regal but at the same time so down to earth."

She was very much loved as one of the local community

The Rev Canon Malcolm Richardson

Meanwhile, Presiding Officer Sir David Steel is returning from holiday in France to lead tributes to the Queen Mother in the Scottish Parliament.

He will chair a special sitting starting at 1200 BST on Wednesday, where party leaders will offer their condolences to the Royal family.

It will be the first time Holyrood has been recalled during a recess since the death of Donald Dewar, the former first minister.

Meanwhile, the church where the Queen Mother was confirmed has announced plans for two special services in her honour.

St John's Scottish Episcopal church in Forfar will open on Wednesday morning and on the day of her funeral.

Close links

The Queen Mother was one of 12 confirmation candidates at the church on 5 November, 1916,.

The Rev Canon Malcolm Richardson, rector at St John's, said: "The congregation has always been very aware of their close links with the Queen Mother.

"There are people in the congregation in their 80s who can still remember seeing her cycling into Forfar from Glamis.

"She was very much loved as one of the local community."