Taking no chances, the first mourner
THE first mourners queuing to see the Queen lying in state set up camp on the banks of the Thames yesterday – prepared to wait for more than 48 hours.
Queuing is not supposed to start officially until tomorrow. But Vanessa Nanthakumaran, 56, from Harrow, north-west London, panicked after hearing the number of people allowed to see the Queen would be limited and became the first in the queue after stewards told her where it was due to start.
She grew up in Sri Lanka before moving to the UK to study in the 1980s. She said her great uncle, Sir Waithilingam Duraiswamy, was knighted by George VI for services to the then Ceylon and her daughter met the Queen as an air cadet.
The administrative assistant arrived at noon with a small bag and spent much of the day leaning against a wall waiting for her daughter to bring a camping chair.
She said she had gone to Parliament to ask where to start queuing but was repeatedly ‘passed on’. She was eventually advised to base herself on the south side of Lambeth Bridge. She said: ‘I was only going to come on Wednesday morning but when I saw they might control crowds I rushed straight here. I had to be here to represent my family, my parents and my grandparents. When I get in to see the Queen, I’ll say prayers in my heart. We have to be quiet and silent, but I’ll pray for her peace and rest.’
Seeing a queue forming, Anne Daley, from Cardiff, rushed over from Parliament to take second place. Draped in the Welsh flag, she said she was there to represent Wales and had cried ‘for days’ after hearing about the Queen’s death.
She said the long wait ahead does not concern her, adding: ‘Don’t worry – everything is under control. I have every luxury available.’ She plans to order Deliveroo food deliveries and joked that she would quite like a swim in the Thames to cool off.
Grace Gothard, from Mitcham, south London, arrived to join the queue at 4.45pm. She said: ‘It will be sad but a celebration too.’
‘I rushed straight here’