The hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is driven through Edinburgh towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Sunday. AFP

Gulf Today Report

The coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II arrived on Sunday at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh, the monarch's official Scottish residence, completing the first leg of her sombre final journey.

The hearse leading the seven-car cortege had left Balmoral Castle, where the queen died on Thursday aged 96, just after 0900 GMT and made a 180-mile (290 kilometre) journey along streets lined with mourners.

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Meanwhile, churchgoers gave thanks for the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II at services around Britain on Sunday as the country comes to terms with the death of the deeply religious monarch.

At the 800-year-old Anglican Southwark Cathedral in central London, the pews were busy for a mass in her honour as worshippers paid homage to the queen.

People watch the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it is driven through Edinburgh on Sunday. AFP

"Today is a time of national sorrow," said Bishop Christopher Chessun at the start of the service.

"It was possible not to have met the Queen and to feel that we knew the Queen."

Pious Elizabeth, who took her role as head of the Church of England profoundly seriously, had come to the cathedral on numerous occasions.

A statue marks her visit for her diamond jubilee in 2012.

"We are experiencing a great sadness, but she is now at rest," the bishop told AFP.

"She was 96 and she deserves her rest."

Priest Andrew Nunn remembered in his sermon how the queen came in secret in 2006 to record her annual Christmas Day broadcast there.

He compared the monarch -- who ascended to the throne at just 25 in 1952 -- to the Virgin Mary who was "not completely ready" when the Bible says she was told she would become the mother of Jesus.

But the queen took on the mantle of sovereign and remained true to her duties for the next seven decades.

"She didn't change. She was a constant in our lives," Nunn said.