Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield looked emotional and solemn as they paid their respects to Queen Elizabeth II at London’s Westminster Hall on Friday.
The This Morning hosts joined the thousands of mourners who have already viewed the late monarch’s coffin following her death on Thursday (September 8). The ITV presenters both wore black – with Holly also wearing a black face mask – and looked somber while in the historic building, where Her Majesty will lie in state until her funeral on Monday (September 19).
Philip looked especially solemn and thoughtful as he filed passed Her Majesty’s coffin – captured by the BBC’s livestream of the hall – as ITV News’ Mary Nightingale could also be seen behind him. Holly and Phil were at the hall to film a segment for Tuesday’s edition of the ITV morning show, which was off-air on Friday and has been cancelled on Monday for the Queen’s funeral.
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The TV pals were reportedly able to skip the queue to see the late monarch, which has been met with some backlash online. However, a source told MailOnline Holly and Phil were strictly there for work, explaining: “They did not get to pay their respects to the Queen in the same way as queuing members of the public but they filmed in a section put aside for press.”
Thousands of people have been queueing overnight to pay their respects, as entry to the queue was temporarily paused on Friday as it reached capacity and had an estimated queuing time of 14 hours. In typical British fashion, reports emerged in the afternoon of a queue to join the queue, which journalist Caitlin Moran joked should be called “The Queue-y 2.”
Many celebs have been spotted queuing for hours to pay their respects to the monarch, including Good Morning Britain host Susanna Reid, who queued overnight with her mother and a friend. David Beckham was also spotted joining the queue and stopped to take pictures with fans and fellow queuers.
Speaking to ITV news, the former England footballer confirmed he joined the queue at 2am. According to one Twitter user, David even bought donuts for those queing around him.
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