Far and wide to the Long Walk
Royal Borough: The crowd was vast but the atmosphere of mourning and deep respect was palpable
As people from far and wide flocked to the Long Walk throughout the day on Monday, many shared their thoughts and paid tribute to Her Majesty after 70 years of service.
Prior to the arrival of the Queen’s coffin onto the Long Walk, Jacqui Savage from Hampshire said: “It’s just so important to pay our respects to her. She’s always been here for us.”
Jacqui added that the coffin procession in the afternoon was going to be emotional for her to watch.
Vincent Kelly, from Chippenham, echoed these sentiments, adding: “[It will be] moving I suspect, you can feel the atmosphere already.”
Mr Kelly said that he had spent some time serving with the army and came to the Long Walk with his family to pay their respects and be part of the occasion.
He added: “When we see the Queen’s coffin in person, I think it’s going to be quite moving.”
Jayne Watts made the journey from Swansea to be on the Long Walk so she could witness the procession later that day.
She said: “It’s a very poignant moment as you’re never going to see anything like this again and certainly not in my lifetime anyway.”
Touching on what the Queen meant to her, Jayne added: “Everything.
“My mother was a real royalist and I think it just carried on.
“My daughters are the same, they think she was a wonderful lady.”
On watching Her Majesty’s state funeral at Westminster Abbey on the big screen, Jayne added: “It was lovely, really nice and I think everybody was very respectful and adhering to the two-minute silence,”
Paying tribute to Her Majesty, Jayne added: “Thank you, Ma’am, for all your years of service.”
Following the procession, mourners shared their thoughts and emotional tributes.
Kerry McAllister, who had travelled down from Yorkshire, said the procession was ‘very emotional’ for her.
She added: “It’s been really emotional since she passed away. I’ve been a bit of a mess to be honest.
“But I’m just amazed at the amount of people who’ve turned out for her.
“I just think it’s fantastic. Majestic even. It’s just amazing.
“I just think she’s iconic and I just absolutely loved her to bits.”
Sisters Valerie Farrer from West Drayton, Anne Gibney from Iver and Glynis Perakis who lives in Australia all decided on Sunday evening that they were going to make the trip to Windsor and early the next morning they had arrived at the Long Walk.
Glynis had been visiting her family in the UK when the announcement was made of Her Majesty’s death, and the trio said they felt ‘very lucky’ to have been so near at the front when the coffin went past.
Anne said: “We just wanted to be here in the atmosphere and if we’re not close it doesn’t matter. But it’s paid off
because we were close.”
Glynis said: “It’s surreal. She died a week ago but it’s really hard to get your head around it.
“It’s just very surreal for me. I’ve been out of the country for such a long time, [and] coming back and seeing all this, it makes you feel very proud and emotional.”
The trio echoed the same sentiment of seeing Her Majesty’s coffin go past, saying it was a ‘very emotional’ moment.
Valerie said: “Some people have travelled miles. You [have] got to admire them, the young children, older people – that’s what she’s done for the nation.”
On watching the funeral earlier in the day, Anne said it was ‘very emotional’ and ‘very moving’.
In tribute to Her Majesty, Valerie added: “You did a brilliant job for millions of people. Well done.”
Glynis added: “I’ll never forget it. I’m so glad we came. So glad we came. I would have regretted it had we not come.”