In Ballater, a main street that had attracted the focus of the world’s media little more than a week before was entirely quiet on Monday morning.
The only people wandering the streets were a coachload of Bavarian tourists and a few visiting hikers and cyclists, still keen to explore the surrounding Cairngorms.
They did not have much opportunity to appreciate this famous village of fewer than 1,500 residents, with all but a handful of stores closed out of respect for the funeral of their best-known neighbour.
On September 11, hundreds of people had lined Bridge Street to watch the Queen’s cortege go past, and the cameras of the international press beamed images of her hearse to the world.
But on the day she was finally laid to rest, the villagers did their mourning in private.
No public screening in Ballater
In the absence of a public screening of the funeral, visitors gathered in the Balmoral Bar in the northern corner of Ballater’s central square.
Mitsi Andrews, from Denver in Colorado, said: “We came on purpose.
“We were supposed to be going from Edinburgh to Inverness and we decided to come to Balmoral and Ballater because that’s where [the Queen] loved to be.
“That was it, we changed our plans.”
Mitsi and her husband Mark were among around a dozen people from around the world who sat in silence at the pub, watching a ceremony unseen for seven decades take place on the television.
“It was very moving, I’m glad we came here,” she said.
‘Emotional’ to watch funeral
Several of the Ballater bar’s patrons sat with tears in their eyes as they listened to the Westminster Abbey choir paying tribute to the Queen at her funeral.
Alan Rae, who was visiting the area from Mintlaw, said: “We’ve known her all our life, she’s always been there.
“It’s just like going to the funeral of a friend, isn’t it? It is emotional.”
His wife Moira added: “You just feel a wee bit like you’re involved – everything is happening down in London, but you just feel you’ve got a connection here.
“I think we’ve taken her for granted all these years.”
For Janette Hawkins, the funeral brought back memories of her British mother, who moved to the US when in her late teens.
In a quiet voice, she said: “When I was four years old, the Queen was crowned.
“I recall my mother telling the story of the Queen and England.
“I still remember that as a young girl, and how much it meant to her.”
Once the coffin was lifted out of Westminster Abbey and the cortege had begun its journey to Wellington Arch, the customers of the Balmoral Bar took a moment to gather their emotions.
Balmoral visit after funeral
Debbie Meyers and her family, from southern California, decided to pay a visit to the pub’s namesake castle after watching the Queen’s funeral in Ballater.
They had booked their trip to the UK two years ago and arrived in London to see crowds of mourners at Buckingham Palace before travelling to Edinburgh and watching the Royal Family march solemnly towards St Giles’ Cathedral.
Glancing over the hundreds of bouquets that had been left by the gates of the Balmoral estate, she said: “We wanted to spend the funeral with the people of Scotland, and so we intentionally looked for a pub that was open where we could do that.
“And of course, we wanted to come to the castle to see the flowers and the gate.
“It’s pretty moving, I think we’re all blown away by the timing of our trip and to be part of this historic moment.”
Conversation