Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8th at the age of 96 and after ruling the country for 70 years, which made her the longest reigning monarch in the UK’s history.
The Queen’s coffin that is made of oak on the outside and lead on the inside was carried by 8 Royal Air Force members who put in the coffin covered with the royal flag in a catafalque. It was taken to the official royal residency in Scotland, which is the Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.
On Monday, September 12, it was taken to the St. Giles’ Cathedral where people could wish the Queen a peaceful rest. It is estimated that 33,000 people went past her in the 24 hours that she was at the St. Giles' Cathedral.
The Queen’s coffin continued its journey and on Tuesday, it was taken by a military C-17 Globemaster to London and carried into Buckingham Palace. On Wednesday, it was carried to its last stop before the funeral, which is the oldest building on the Parliamentary estate, Westminster Hall.
This is the place where the rest of the Brits can come and pay their respects to Elizabeth II. People started filing to enter Westminster Hall on Wednesday afternoon to get a chance to pass the Queen’s coffin. It is expected that 750,000 people will come to view the coffin until the lying in state’s end on Monday before the funeral, which is planned at 11:00 BST.
To enter the Westminster Hall, people started lining up and started the most epic queue the world has ever seen as it is formed by the British, who are notorious for it, and also because they are standing in it to see their beloved Queen, who doesn’t even need to be named because everyone in the world thinks of her when you say the title.
The Queue goes along the river Thames and stretches all the way to London Bridge, The Tower Bridge and beyond. It is so long that the UK government Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) launched an official Queue Tracker available on YouTube which gives live updates about the growing line, where the endpoint is and what the estimated waiting time is.
Not only that, but in true British fashion, the government issued a guide to The Queue. It includes things like how to get to London, how to get to and join The Queue, what will be its route. There are rules of what you can and cannot bring, they warn about being prepared for the weather and that people will be searched.
People who are queuing are being given wristbands to indicate their location in The Queue so they can go get food and use the bathroom. Various cafes and other businesses are extending their working hours to cater for the people in the line and local venues and museums are open all day and night so people can use their facilities. In addition to that, there are more than 500 portable toilets at various points along The Queue’s route.
It is fascinating to see so many people united and so dedicated to standing in The Queue as they may need to remain in it overnight, during the colder hours of the day, to withstand the rain and the wind. It’s all because they felt grateful for the Queen’s service to their nation and now it’s their last chance to give her the last wave.
The people are coming to terms with the fact that they have a new king and are getting through their grief, which is evident from the memes and reactions online. They were joking about how long The Queue is, about how it's a pure reflection of what the UK is all about and that even if you aren't a supporter of the monarchy, it's worth coming there just to look at the beautiful view of people standing one behind another.
Which reactions did you like the most? Have you seen The Queue in real life? What do you think about it? Do you think the world is making a bigger deal of Queen Elizabeth’s death than it should? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
