David Beckham, Sharon Osbourne Queue to See the Queen Mendacity In State

David Beckham, Sharon Osbourne and “Good Morning Britain” anchor Susanna Reid are among the many lots of of hundreds of mourners who’ve spent hours queuing for an opportunity to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II whereas she lies in state forward of her funeral on Sept. 19.

Beckham informed Sky Information — who caught up with him whereas he was nonetheless ready in line — that he had joined the queue at 2 a.m. on Friday morning. “Properly, all of us wish to have a good time our Queen, Her Majesty,” he informed the digicam crew as the road inched ahead. Later that day, at round 3 p.m., the BBC’s livestream of the lying in state confirmed Beckham, wearing a black swimsuit and tie, lastly coming into Westminster Corridor. Because the soccer star approached the Queen’s coffin, which is sat on a catafalque draped within the Royal Commonplace flag and the Imperial State Crown, he stopped and bent his head, pausing for a second earlier than following the others mourners out.

Osbourne was noticed within the queue on Wednesday night by ITV Information. “I really like the Queen and I came to visit for this as a result of I’m a royalist and I really like the royal household,” she informed the interviewer.

Reid, who used to co-host “GMB” with Piers Morgan earlier than he stormed out of the job over feedback concerning the Queen’s granddaughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, stated on Thursday she had spent simply over seven hours ready according to her mom and a pal. On Twitter she suggested others who had been planning to courageous the queue to “put on the comfiest sneakers you personal” and “don’t carry an excessive amount of in a bag.” Responding to somebody who requested whether or not her mom had the possibility to sit down down whereas the queue inched ahead, Reid replied: “Plenty of occasions on the general public benches alongside the route. It’s a problem standing for that lengthy.”

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Beckham, Osbourne and Reid had been extensively praised for selecting to hitch the general public queue slightly than utilizing the VIP line, which “This Morning” anchors Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield had been caught doing on the BBC’s reside feed.

The primary folks to hitch the queue arrived nearly 48 hours earlier than the mendacity in state began. On the time, the Queen’s physique wasn’t even in London however nonetheless in Scotland, the place she died last week at the age of 96. On Tuesday, she was flown from Edinburgh to London, spending one ultimate night time in Buckingham Palace earlier than her coffin was transported to Westminster Corridor (a part of the U.Okay.’s Homes of Parliament) in an elaborate ceremonial procession on Wednesday afternoon, through which her household, together with King Charles III and Princes William and Harry, all took half.

The Queen’s physique will now lie in state, surrounded by troopers in conventional uniforms, till Monday morning, when will probably be taken to Westminster Abbey for her funeral. On Friday night, the Queen’s household appeared in Westminster Corridor to pay their respects along with her youngsters King Charles III, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward standing vigil round her coffin. Her grandchildren, together with Princes William and Harry, are set to do the identical on Saturday.

On Monday afternoon, the Queen will make her ultimate journey to Windsor Fortress, the place she will probably be buried alongside her late husband Prince Philip, who died final April.

Lots of of hundreds of mourners have now joined the queue in a bid to pay their ultimate respects to the Queen. Such is the quantity of folks that the queue has turn into a vacationer attraction in its personal proper because it snakes alongside the banks of the River Thames, spawning memes, nicknames (“QEII,” a play on the title of a now-retired transatlantic cruise ship) and even a livetracker on YouTube arrange by the U.Okay.’s Division of Digital, Media, Tradition and Sport (DCMS), which warns those that are contemplating becoming a member of how lengthy it’s and the way lengthy they might be ready.

On Friday morning, because the queue hit 5 miles in size, it was briefly closed, though a second queue merely sprang up behind it in Southwark Park. By Friday afternoon, that queue was additionally closed, with newcomers reportedly lining up in a 3rd queue outdoors the park gates.

“I solely actually determined this morning that I used to be positively going to do it,” Juliet from Leicestershire, who had joined the second queue, informed Selection on Friday round lunchtime. “There’s a number of of us who’ve all gone and joined collectively on the prepare station, we joined a convoy and ended up in a queue for the queue.”

When requested what had prompted her to spend hours in line to see the Queen’s coffin, Juliet replied: “I needed to pay my respects. I simply considered how a lot she’d given of her life to everyone else, I simply actually felt I needed to do it. And having misplaced my mum myself, it resonated with me and I actually needed to be right here.”

Juliet additionally admitted she is a fan of Netflix collection “The Crown,” the depiction of Queen Elizabeth II’s life as a monarch. “It actually taught me loads,” she stated. “And particularly over this final week, there’s been references to momentous events within the Queen’s life, and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I noticed that. Oh no, it was on “The Crown,” it wasn’t actual life.’ However I knew about it due to the ‘The Crown.’”

Not everybody within the queue is a fan of the Peter Morgan collection, nonetheless. Associates Jan, Sam and Lesley queued for 13.5 hours earlier than lastly making it into Westminster Corridor round 2:30 p.m. on Friday. They described the expertise as “superb,” saying the environment inside was “very silent, very respectful.”

“She’s all we’ve ever identified,” Jan informed Selection because the trio exited the Corridor with tears nonetheless of their eyes. “We cherished her and she or he’s been unimaginable for our nation.”

“She’s been an awesome position mannequin to all girls,” stated Lesley.

When requested if that they had watched “The Crown,” two of the trio shook their heads. “You must do not forget that not all of it’s reality,” stated Jan. “It’s their [the writers’] interpretation of it, so you need to simply maintain that in thoughts actually if you’re watching it.”

The group had been rather more obsessed with Her Majesty’s sketch with Paddington Bear, which she secretly recorded for her Platinum Jubilee simply two months in the past. “Completely superb,” stated Jan.

“It nonetheless makes me wish to cry now once I give it some thought,” Lesley agreed.

On the opposite facet of the river, Cat Webster, who was queuing with pals from West Yorkshire, additionally praised the sketch. “Completely great, I completely cherished it and I cherished the best way the Queen embraced it and acted together with it,” Webster informed Selection. “It actually confirmed her great humorousness.”
When requested why she had felt compelled to courageous the queue and attend the lying-in-state, Webster replied: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime alternative. And for every little thing the Queen has finished for us and our nation and the world, it’s the least I can do and I wish to pay my respects to the Queen. I completely cherished the Queen.”