On Wednesday, I felt compelled to queue to see the Queen lying in state. I arrived at midnight and joined the end of the queue, which was about 200 metres west of London Bridge, and I completed the journey at Westminster Hall at 7.50am on Thursday. The temperature had dropped to 12C that morning, but everyone was in good spirits. One person said that it was the most British thing he had ever done.
One of the things that I will remember most is how Londoners talked to each other. I don’t recall seeing anyone wearing earbuds. The queue was well organised, with hundreds of volunteers offering help. There were portable toilets and some vendors, such as Caffè Nero, were open 24 hours. Even the Globe theatre decided to stay open 24/7 to allow people to use the toilets.
As tiring as the queue was, I am glad I was able to pay my respects to the Queen. I would have felt a sense of regret if I had not gone. One Londoner probably summed it up best when he said: “I think this is the queue I have been training for my entire life.”
Jason Knox
London
