They came bearing children, dogs... and loved ones’ ashes
It was a typically British occasion: quirky and good-hearted.
Mourners clutching their loved ones’ ashes were among thousands who waited throughout the night to pay their respects to the Queen.
As the historic commemoration entered its second day, wellwishers stood shoulder to shoulder in one solemn line.
Sisters Joan and Pauline had travelled down from Southport, Merseyside, with their husbands’ ashes which come with them ‘wherever we go’.
Pauline, whose husband Mike was a policeman, said: ‘[Mike] loved the Royal Family and when they came up to Liverpool he was a protection officer, so service was very important.’
Joan, whose late husband Charlie worked in the ambulance service, said her spouse’s
‘Even though it’s a sad day, it’s also a lovely one’
‘service to the Crown’ made the visit all the more important. After paying their respects in Westminster Hall, Pauline said the experience was ‘so moving’ as it brought back the memories of the loved ones she had lost.
‘ that’s what you think about. She’s another human being but it is so nice to be able to show your respect for her. Even though it’s a sad day it’s also a lovely day,’ she added.
the siblings were joined by a woman dubbed the world’s most devoted royal fan after she made an 11,600-mile trip from New Zealand back to Britain to pay her last respects to the Queen.
Julia McCarthy-Fox had to fork out £2,500 to make it in time to say her goodbyes in person.
the 57-year-old moved to New Zealand from Horsham in West Sussex in 2019, but her love for the Royal Family remained strong.
After setting up camp on the Mall, Miss McCarthy-Fox headed to the long queue late on Wednesday evening armed with packets of chocolate to get her through the wait.
‘I’m hoping to get to the front [on thursday] morning. I can sleep standing up so I will have to do that in the queue, but I don’t know if I can sleep and walk,’ she said.
Former service men and women were out in force for their ‘former boss’, including retired soldier Jeff Smith.
Festooned in medals, 68-year-old Mr Smith left Westminster Hall with his wife Jenny, 68, daughter Victoria Weston and grandchildren James, six, and Olivia, four, after a seven-hour wait. the family woke up at 4am to travel into London from Chislehurst, southeast London.
Standing next to his grandson, Mr Smith – who served in Germany and America – said: ‘I’m very proud of serving her, she presented me with an MBE and it was just the right thing to do.’
He added: ‘I came as a veteran, I met her four times. It was worth every minute. You don’t realise the emotion until it’s released when you step into that room.’
His daughter Victoria also wore her grandfather’s medals awarded after he was kept as a prisoner of war in Japan for four years.
Meanwhile James, wearing another smaller set of Mr Smith’s medals, said: ‘the queue was really long but it was worth it.’
Citizens old and young camped, crouched and queued through the night to say farewell.
Officials at Westminster Hall said some even brought their dogs along to pay their respects to the Queen. Fiona Holloran, 34, and her husband Carter, 39, brought their seven-month- old daughter Kiera to be one of the first babies to see the late Queen.
‘We had to come to say goodbye,’ she said, weeping. ‘It’s been an overwhelming sense of occasion with all of this space, we never expected it.’ And account manager Kate Bailey, 32, held her seven-month-old daughter Rose close to her chest as they walked along the South Bank towards London Bridge.
travelling from Cheshire with her friend Lucy Baker, 32, the pair settled in for the 8-hour queue that awaited them.
Miss Bailey said: ‘ We thought we’d always regret it if we don’t try but we will see how it goes.
‘the Queen did so much for us, didn’t she. So it is the least we could do.’ Meanwhile, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby joined to talk to well-wishers, police and even performed a blessing on a ten-year-old girl while she waited in the queue.
Photographer Nicola Baker, 45, said she had practised bowing in her wheelchair before travelling alone to London on the Night Riviera sleeper train from Penzance, Cornwall.
the seasoned follower of the Royal Family said: ‘I came for the Queen Mother’s funeral but I was walking then so I could curtsy.
‘ Even then I wobbled so I thought at least I won’t wobble in my chair – but I was still worried about my balance.’
She plans to return for the funeral on Monday, and said she was there to represent her 80year-old mother who did not feel able to make the long journey.
‘You don’t realise the emotion until you step into that room’