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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Lauren Harte

The Queen's Death: NI scout on 'once in a lifetime' opportunity helping at lying-in-state

All eyes have been on London over the past week during the Queen's lying-in-state and several Northern Ireland scouts played a key role in the historic event.

On Monday morning, people across the UK and beyond paid their final respects to Her Majesty as the lying-in-state period came to a close, with Westminster Hall closing to the public ahead of the Queen's funeral.

Nathan Quee from North Down Scouts was one of nine 18-25 year olds selected from Northern Ireland to represent the Scouts at this poignant moment in our nation’s history.

Read more: Queen's Funeral LIVE stream, updates, timings and what's open in NI and Belfast today

He was also among 120 from across the four UK nations doing his final duty to the late Queen, a promise he made when he invested as a Scout.

Nathan's first day last Tuesday started with a dawn flight from Belfast to Stanstead, after which he made his way to his base for the week at Gilwell Park, home to the UK's National Scouting Headquarters.

Nathan, from Bangor, was there to support the police, military, and the millions of mourners and well-wishers flocking to London to pay their respects as Her Majesty lay in state at Westminster Hall, which was open 24 hours a day to allow as many people as possible to pass by.

Nathan, 18 and deputy head boy at Bangor Academy, was nominated to take part and endured "a nerve-wracking" selection process.

Over the past four and a half days, tens of thousands of people have queued along the banks of the River Thames where Nathan was on hand to help people requiring accessibility measures and at the bag drop-off.

Nathan with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons (Submitted)

Nathan, who finished his week of shifts on Sunday evening, told Belfast Live it has been "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".

"We finished up on Sunday afternoon and that was very emotional as we all realised that our role was coming to an end.

"We had all woken up knowing it was our last shift as a team and honestly I just felt like every moment was an emotional one. We cracked on with what we do best and made sure we kept on our happy smiling faces for the public, however we were all slowly breaking down inside."

Nathan added: "We woke quite late this morning compared to the usual 4am and headed around to one of the main buildings on-site at Gilwell Park to watch the funeral of Her Majesty.

Nathan Quee from North Down Scouts (Submitted)

"Some others went into London early on this morning but I chose not to, so those of us who remained all sat together watching the funeral on the big screen.

"It was so quiet in the room you could hear a pin drop and when I looked around the room everyone was a little emotional. I think we all finally realised what we'd been a part of up until this morning when the military relieved the night shift.

"This once in a lifetime occasion had ended and we were all just lost in our thoughts. The moment it really hit us was when we all leaped up to sing God Save the King for the first time.

"I think we all had accepted by then that Her Majesty's reign was truly over, but we were witnessing history unfold and now must look to the future with the reign of King Charles III."

For Nathan, it will take some time to fully absorb the enormity of the past week as he prepares to fly home and return to school later this week.

"It has been an absolutely amazing experience and the atmosphere was very emotional throughout. I don't think I'll ever be a part of or witness anything like this again so it really has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he added.

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