Publication date: Sep 16, 2022 • 3 hours ago • 3 min read • 6 comments Thousands of people queue in Southwark Park to see Queen Elizabeth II lie in state at Westminster Hall on Friday. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Prime Minister Jason Kenney tweeted on Friday that he has flown to London to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II.

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Kenney shared two photos on social media that showed he would spend at least 14 hours in line to see the late monarch’s casket. Sign up to receive daily news headlines from the Calgary Herald, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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“I am in London (entirely at personal expense) to pay my respects to the late Her Majesty The Queen in state on behalf of Alberta,” Kenny tweeted. “There is a deep sense of shared sorrow and affection for (her majesty) in this vast, diverse gathering of people from all over the world.” Kenney said he made updates and work calls from the line. Kenney’s office confirmed it was in an unstaffed queue. Reached by phone Friday afternoon while in line, Kenney said he expected to get to the front of the line around 8 a.m. London time. He said that when he was 14, he woke up in the early hours during a trip to Victoria to make sure he had a place to see the Queen and Prince Philip. After that, he had promised himself that he would be present at the queen’s funeral.

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“I make no apologies for being an avid monarchist all my life and a fan of the Queen,” Kenney said. “I thought it was especially important in my role to represent Alberta, purely at personal expense, and it’s just a very quick 36-hour trip, but for me, it was just necessary. I mean, this is a woman who gave her life in service, partly in Canada. And the least I can do is stand in line for 15 hours to say thank you.” Kenney said the mood at the line-up was “polite,” but it wasn’t a festival. He said there was a shared sense of sadness, but there was also a shared sense of solidarity. “There are also friendships and people from all over the world connecting, sharing stories and all here for a common cause making a personal sacrifice,” Kenney said.

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I am in London (entirely at personal expense) to pay homage to the late Majesty the Queen in state on behalf of Alberta. Now a 14+ hour queue. There is a deep sense of shared grief and affection for HM in this huge, diverse gathering of people from all over the world pic.twitter.com/lPkGECJ4Cx — Jason Kenney 🇺🇦 (@jkenney) September 16, 2022
The line, dubbed ‘The Queue’, has been described as several kilometers long and was temporarily closed in the early hours of Friday morning when it reached capacity. It reopened later in the day. An update from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport posted online around midday, MST said the current wait was 22 hours. The line at the time terminated at Southwark Park, about seven kilometers from the head of the line at Westminster Abbey. The department has created a live stream of the queue that can be viewed on YouTube. Kenny said he chaired a cabinet meeting in which ministers formally recognized King Charles’s accession before acknowledging the Queen’s passage into the legislature. He then boarded a flight to London.

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During the special session of the legislature, Kenney made a speech in honor of Queen Elizabeth, who died on Sept. 8 after ruling as Canada’s head of state for more than 70 years. “While her portrait graces our proceedings today, as she has for decades in this place, it is difficult to coin the words adequately to express the grief that so many of us feel for her loss,” Kenney told the legislature. body. “I have to say very personally that her death hit me harder than I expected. Like I’ve lost a grandmother or an old friend.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced earlier this week that Monday, the day of the queen’s funeral, would be a national day of mourning and that the federal public service would have a holiday to mark the occasion. Alberta’s provincial government has announced that it will hold a day of mourning, but that the day will not be recognized as a public holiday. Employers and schools in Alberta were encouraged to provide opportunities for workers and students to attend the ceremony in Edmonton or to mark the day themselves. Kenney said there will be an official memorial service on the steps of the Alberta legislature and he plans to be there as long as travel logistics work as planned. [email protected]

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