IN A WEEK OF LASTS, THE PUBLIC PAY THEIR FINAL RESPECTS
Using every means possible to view the passing cortège, the crowds showed respect and gratitude as they took part in this once-in-a-lifetime event.
Wherever she went, they came to see her. The Queen’s final journey was not a midnight queue for Westminster Hall. Nor was it the stately placing of flowers at a Royal palace, offering hours to reflect and remember. This was a snatched glimpse of a flag-draped coffin in a hearse making its way to Windsor Castle.
Her people came all the same. They tore holes in netting for a peek, stood precariously on railings, forced themselves through prickly holly bushes. Some hoisted their children on to their shoulders, so that even the youngest watchers could see the coffin pass by. In a week of lasts, this was the final chance the public had to pay their respects. From Wellington Arch to Windsor, not an inch of pavement was wasted.
In Hyde Park, as the hearse moved towards the front gates, people in the crowd craned their necks, or held up mobile phones or selfie sticks to catch a glimpse of the vehicle.
Despite the clamour to see her, the mood was respectful. Liz Flemington-duffy, 45, who had stayed overnight in London with her mother and partner, having travelled the day before from Bournemouth, said that seeing the service on a big screen in the park had been “powerful” and “really respectful”, with no one pushing them from behind in the queue. The atmosphere had been “lovely”, she said.
As the public proceeded out of the park, the minute guns could be heard. The crowd broke into spontaneous applause. Some were clad in the Union flag. With each booming thud, more people broke away in the hope of seeing the hearse pass by.
By 1pm, the crowd further along the route at Queen’s Gate in South Kensington was 20-deep in places. A young boy had climbed a lamppost for a better view; an even younger one perched atop a stepladder, clutching a teddy. Clusters of spectators were gathered on the balconies of mansion blocks. Below, a police officer warned the public not to surge forward and crush the small group of infants pressed up against a barrier.
“If this was in the US, people would be pushing and shoving, it would be a mess,” remarked Anthony Weems, a computer security engineer from Michigan. The
28-year-old, who was visiting London for work, said he had been texting friends in America that he was “actually here”.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event,” he added, “so if you have the chance to be there, you might as well.”
Ruth Dwyer, 53, a housewife, had travelled from Swansea with her 18-year-old daughter this week to pay her respects to the Queen as she lay in state, queuing for 12 hours on Friday. “She was just an incredible woman,” she said. “She had a really strong faith in God, and that was her rock.”
Near-silence fell as spectators awaited the Queen. As the hearse drew near at a stately 12mph, cheers and whoops erupted from those watching. When the last of the vehicles in the procession had disappeared, emotion ran high. “I got completely choked up,” admitted Nadine Vincent, 49, from south London.
Once the cortège had disappeared from view, it felt as if a spell had suddenly broken. Dwyer’s daughter put a gentle, comforting arm around her mother.
“She knows where she’s gone – she’s gone to heaven,” said Dwyer of the Queen, clearly moved by what she had witnessed. “It was so sad to see her leaving her city for the last time.”
This final route was not always the most glamorous the late Queen took. After Kensington it left central London via Hammersmith, before heading south-west towards Staines. The advertising billboards were turned off; a detail that lent unusual gravitas to the drive. Everywhere the cars went, people waited to pay their respects. They lingered outside petrol stations and on central reservations, on lay-bys and hard shoulders. This was not The Mall or the Long Walk, but it was where the Queen was, so that’s where they were.
The A30 at Staines runs past the eastern side of the southern runway at Heathrow. Usually it is a planespotting destination. It was from a paddock here, in February, that Jerry Dyer, “Big Jet Jerry”, a plane live-streamer, briefly became famous for broadcasting footage of jumbo jets wobbling in Storm Eunice. As the crowd gathered to watch the procession, an enterprising soul called Jack brought a van up to the fence and set up deckchairs on its roof. “You can come up if you want, for a tenner,” he joked.
“It’s on the route to Windsor and I like planes, so it’s combining two things,” said Liam Gellett, 23, from Dorking, who had come down with his fiancée Alisha, his aunt Kelly and his cousin Oscar, 12. “Oscar likes emergency vehicles, so he just wants to see all the police cars.” A couple of hours before the procession, Oscar was treated to an exciting sight: the police bomb disposal Land Rover, checking a suspicious package.
While parents watched the procession on ipads and phones, the children watched the planes and played football and cricket on the grass. They tore handfuls of grass from the verge to feed the ponies.
“The Queen has been an ever-present in all our lives,” said Gareth Williams, who was with his parents Richard and Susan, his wife Sammy and son Teddy, 4. “Everyone thought she’d go on forever. We looked into taking Teddy to Westminster but the queuing would have been too hard, so I’m glad we could do this. We knew it would be a good spot right on the road, and the planes keep him entertained. Hopefully it’s something he’ll remember forever.”
The airlines arranged for flights to stop, briefly, around the minute’s silence at noon and for the procession. Without the deafening sound of jet engines and four lanes of traffic, the scene by Heathrow was oddly peaceful. Birdsong came clear out of the hedgerows.
When the procession arrived, the crowd clapped. Some threw single flowers in front of the car, mindful of the instructions not to throw whole bunches. As the hearse went past, the flag-draped coffin with its crown, orb and sceptre were only visible momentarily. For the men, women and many children watching on, it was more than enough.
“That was humbling,” said Abi Gill, 35, who had come down with her husband, two daughters and 73-year-old mother. “My mum came over from Punjab when she was 17, and she was determined to be a part of today. She’s of that generation who grew up with her. The Queen did so much for her. She never made it to Diana’s funeral so she really wanted to be here.”
Beyond Heathrow, the hearse turned north-west for the final leg of its journey.
The Queen was a great friend to farmers, as a Berkshire farmer herself. On the approach to Windsor, at Runnymede, they arranged their tractors in formation along the side of the road. They turn out for all respected local farmers: they were not about to make an exception for the most beloved farmer of them all.
Katie Weeks, 40, a Windsor resident, who watched the funeral from the Long Walk near the Albert Road entrance, had a clear view of the Queen’s coffin as it drove towards Windsor Castle.
“I think a lot of my emotion is thinking of her as a family person, not just as the Queen,” she said. “It makes people think about their families and who they have lost.”
As the hearse passed, normal service returned. West London traffic resumed, running over the flowers that had been thrown into the road. Planes roared once more into Heathrow.
The crowds along the route dispersed, treasuring a few seconds they will remember forever.
They had all said goodbye to a relation.