Queen's funeral: Floral tributes at Hillsborough Castle being moved from gates
- Published
Staff began moving the flowers on Tuesday morning
About 40,000 bunches of flowers placed outside Hillsborough Castle in County Down following the death of the Queen are being removed from the gates.
The floral tributes were left at Northern Ireland's royal residence.
Hillsborough Castle became a focus for mourners following Queen Elizabeth II's death on 8 September.
A team from the castle began removing the flowers from the gates at 07:00 BST on Tuesday and placing them throughout the estate.
Potted plants will be moved to the glass display house which currently contains a collection of flowers and plants.
Wreathes and tributes in foam will be relocated to the south terrace, near the magnolia tree that the Queen planted on her 1953 Coronation visit.
Hillsborough Castle, a royal residence, became a focus for mourners in Northern Ireland
All other floral tributes will be placed at the birch trees by the lake planted by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Once flowers have deteriorated, they will be composted on site.
"We've got a whole team of gardeners and Hillsborough staff and Northern Office staff helping us to relocate the beautiful floral tributes that have been brought here to Hillsborough in the last 11 days," said Claire Woods, garden manager at Hillsborough Castle.
"We reckon over 50,000 people visited us, most of them brought flowers, so we're estimating somewhere in the region of 40,000 bunches of flowers.
"We started at seven o'clock this morning and I think another two to three hours will get most of it cleared."
Cards and messages
On Monday, a state funeral and military procession was held for the late Queen, with world leaders joining King Charles III at Westminster Abbey.
People across Northern Ireland gathered at different venues to watch the funeral on big screens.
Leaders from Northern Ireland's five main political parties and Assembly Speaker Alex Maskey attended the funeral service in London.
The Northern Ireland Office thanked those who paid their respects to the Queen by laying flowers and wreaths at the County Down castle.
The flowers are being moved to different parts of the estate
All the cards and messages that were left will be collected and kept.
On 11 September, the Accession Proclamation for King Charles III was read at Hillsborough Castle, at the same time as ceremonies in Edinburgh and Cardiff.
The new King, Charles III, then visited Hillsborough Castle, where he said his mother "never ceased to pray for the best of times for this place and its people".
The Royal Family will observe another week of mourning and flags will remain at half mast on royal residences.
- Published19 September 2022
- Published10 September 2022
- Published9 September 2022
- Published10 September 2022
