Susanna Reid has spoken of the "privilege" of queuing for over seven hours to see the Queen lying in state.
The monarch will be laid to rest in a funeral service this morning at Westminster Abbey following her passing two weeks ago. Before her funeral, Queen Elizabeth II had been lying in state in Westminster Hall, with the public being allowed to queue up and pay tribute to the monarch, with the queues reaching 24 hours at some point.
Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid queued up with her mother for over seven hours to pay tribute to the monarch. As the queue closed live on the ITV breakfast show today, Susanna paid tribute to the Queen and spoke of the "privilege" of being one of the many people who were able to view the coffin in London ahead of the funeral.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she said: "It's an enormous privilege to have been able to have done that, to pay our respects. Whether you are religious or not, a royalist or not, it feels like a sort of pilgrimage, and a historic moment, a historic opportunity."
Ben added: "It’s huge commitment, when we were talking and you were in the queue for seven hours and 20 minutes in total with your mum and a friend. When you do anything like that, and endeavour, because it really is an endeavour to stay that long for this moment, you can understand why, for some, they are overwhelmed with emotion."
Susanna spoke of her "pride" at her mother at 81-years-old queueing for so long.
"When I was in the queue, young children, patiently and uncomplainingly stood for hours. I was so proud of my mum at 81 queuing with me," she said of the emotional scenes around her on Thursday as her and her mother paid tribute.
On Thursday, Susanna took to Twitter to share her own tips for the queue after taking on it herself.
"Evening - along with my lovely mum and her very good friend, I have just experienced a moment in history – witnessing the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. At once majestic and peaceful," she wrote at the time.
"If you are planning to queue here are our tips. We joined at 1.23pm near Butlers Wharf and entered Westminster Hall at 8.43pm - 7 hours 20 mins. Wear the comfiest shoes you own. Go with someone if you can, although everyone in the queue was friendly. The first part of the queue is for wristbands. Ours were given out at Tower Bridge about an hour after we began queuing. There is no queue jumping – people waited patiently for wristbands and once you have one you can leave the queue for snacks/loo stops & slip back in."
