The Aberdeenshire village of Ballater gathered around the Queen’s Jubilee Cairn to pay their respects with a minute’s silence.
Hundreds of people came to pay tribute to the late monarch outside Glenmuick Church.
Many were dressed in their very best, with kilts, tartans and military uniforms everywhere to be seen. Badges and medals were proudly on display.
At 8pm, the church bell rang, and flags were lowered behind the cairn as the crowd stood completely still for a minute. Only some nearby birds could be heard in the distance.
Afterwards, the lone piper James Cooper of Ballater District Pipe Band played a lament. He said it was a “great honour” to perform because “Her Majesty always loved the pipes”.
Surrounded by hills on either side, the village on the River Dee has often been regarded as a place close to the late monarch’s heart.
The piper has started to play as Ballater turns out to pay their respects. pic.twitter.com/slfFKB9udb
— Cameron Roy (@Cameron_Roy_) September 18, 2022
Private ceremony for a local woman
The Queen first started coming to Ballater when she was a young girl with her father George VI on summer holidays, a tradition that has continued ever since.
Rev David Barr, 60, said: “It just epitomises the relationship Ballater had with the Queen.
“We wanted to pay our respects without so much pomp and circumstance.
“This is a very private service for the community to pay our respects just like any other neighbour who has been here for her whole life.
“Most people here today will have met her.”
For her Diamond Jubilee, the village celebrated by gathering 60 rocks from the surrounding hills and building a cairn beside Glenmuick Church.
However, the rocks are currently hard to see due to the number of flower tributes covering the site.
Ballater’s ‘deep respect’
Gordon Bruce, 73, and Alistair Cassie, 77, were born in Ballater, and helped gather the rocks for the cairn.
Mr Bruce said: “I am here to pay my respects to a remarkable woman who was very easy to speak to one on one.”
Mr Cassie said: “There has always been was a tremendous amount of respect for the Queen in Ballater.
“You can see it when the Cortege passed through, we had a fantastic turnout and people were very well behaved. There is a deep respect here.”
Also in attendance at the ceremony was the Deputy Lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, Rosie Walker.
The Lord Lieutenant Alexander Philip Manson was in London to attend the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey.
‘The duty of an old soldier’
The oldest resident of Ballater is 95-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Inkster.
He first met the Queen when they were just children together. His father was an electrician who worked at Balmoral Castle.
He said: “It is the duty of an old soldier to come to pay my final respects.
“In 1944 I took my pledge to the King and his successors. She was a terrific lady.
Mr Inkster still tends the war memorial on the church’s grounds in the centre of the village, restoring it after it was devastated by floods in 2015.
Will King Charles still love Ballater?
Speaking to those in Ballater, there is little doubt their special relationship with the royals will continue despite the Queen’s death.
David Cobban, 57, was born in Ballater and runs a gift shop in the village.
He said: “We think Charles is received very well here.
“After the flood, he helped raise money to rebuild the caravan park. He also contributed to the hanging of flower baskets around the village.
“The royals will still love Ballater, no doubt about that.”
Conversation