The Queen’s family received the coffin on its arrival at the palace, where it will lie in state in the Bow Room overnight.
The coffin was flown from Edinburgh earlier on Tuesday in a C-17 Globemaster transport plane, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston told Sky News on Tuesday in an on-camera interview.
It’s a “heavily used aircraft, it carried most of the 15,000 people we evacuated from Kabul last summer,” Wigston said.
“And, since then, it has been involved in the airlift of humanitarian aid and lethal aid nodes to support Ukraine,” he added.
Princess Anne accompanied the Queen on her last flight. The late monarch’s only daughter, Anne, was also the only one of the Queen’s four children to accompany his coffin from Balmoral Castle to Edinburgh on Monday.
In a statement, Anne said it had been “an honor and a privilege” to accompany her mother on her final travels.
“Seeing the love and respect shown by so many on these trips has been both humbling and uplifting,” he added.
“We will all share unique memories. I extend my gratitude to each and every person who shares our sense of loss.”
Mourners had lined up in front of St. Giles of Edinburgh on Monday evening for the turn of paying his last respects. The Scottish Government said more than 26,000 people marched before the Queen.
Tuesday marked Charles’ first trip to Northern Ireland as the UK’s new monarch, following in the footsteps of his mother, who was seen as a symbol of the union and was an important figure during the peace process Northern Ireland.
The historic visit saw the King arrive at the royal residence, Hillsborough Castle, where he greeted the public and viewed the floral tributes. There he met with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, and the leaders of Northern Ireland’s main political parties.
Charles and Camilla received a message of condolence from the Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Alex Maskey, to which the King replied: “In the years since she began her long life of public service, my mother he saw Northern Ireland going through momentous and historic changes. During all these years, he did not stop praying for better times for this place and its people.”
King Charles added that he would follow his mother’s example of dedicating himself “to his country and his people and to maintaining the principles of constitutional government.”
After the reception at the castle, the King and Queen Consort arrived at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast for an afternoon service of prayer and reflection. They will be presented to faith and community leaders from across Northern Ireland. More than 800 people are expected to take part in the religious service, which was also attended by British Prime Minister Liz Truss.
His visit comes at an awkward time for Northern Ireland, where political tensions are high and key issues around Brexit remain unresolved.
While the majority of the country voted to remain in the European Union in the 2016 referendum, the UK’s ruling Conservative Party signed a Brexit deal that created new customs barriers between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain.
Elizabeth was the monarch for 70 years of Northern Ireland’s 101-year history.
She was queen during the bloody 30 years of violence known as “The Troubles”, which pitted UK unionists against Irish nationalists, with the British crown emblematic of much of what divided the province.
Unionists are loyal to the Crown and the traditional British values they believe it enshrines. For Irish nationalists, it is the symbol of the British forces that subjugated their ancestors and annexed their land.
Louis Mountbatten, the last British Viceroy of India and Charles’s favorite great-uncle, was assassinated by Irish republicans along with several of his grandchildren in 1979.
The Queen publicly set aside those differences during a 2012 visit to Northern Ireland, shaking hands with Martin McGuinness, one of the republicans most associated with past violence. Charles also shook hands with Gerry Adams in 2015, seen as another milestone in the fragile peace process, as Adams had long been associated with the Irish Republican Army (IRA), once considered the armed arm of Sinn Fein, which is now the largest party in the North. Ireland
The King and Queen Consort are now back in London on their return from Belfast.
To get updates about the British royal family delivered to your inbox, sign up for CNN’s royal newsletter.
CNN’s Nic Robertson and Max Foster contributed to this report.