The excitement was palpable among the thousands of people who lined up to see Queen Elizabeth II lie in state on Friday morning. The line was over six miles long, with an estimated wait time of over 10 hours. Little did they all know. it would be several hours more than that. Members of the public queue outside St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, on September 12, 2022, to pay their respects in front of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in repose. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images) 8:50 am Having arrived from the US just 24 hours before, I got in line at 8:50am. local time in Southwark Park with my mum, Rosa De-Kelly. My aunt, Annie Bazan, also joined us, having arrived from Birmingham at 6:45am. LINE TO SEE QUEEN ELIZABETH’S COFFIN CUT OFF AS WAIT REACHES 14 HOURS 10:05 am We quickly made friends with the 10 or so people around us in line and got our first round of news: the line had been temporarily shut down for the next six hours. If our team was just an hour behind, we wouldn’t have gotten in line. Fortunately, we were already committed. Surprisingly, the first two or three hours went by very quickly. Spirits were high and we learned that there were people from all over the country: Bath, Manchester, Bedfordshire. We also spoke to police and security, noting that many of them had traveled outside of London. Some officers traveled up to four hours, from Cornwall and Devon. NOW: the line to see #QueenElizabethII’s coffin has been temporarily halted for SIX hours, with the line reaching full capacity for the first time since it opened. Fortunately, I already have an hour in the queue. Any later and I wouldn’t be able to participate. pic.twitter.com/iEUAV5WHEl — Claudia Kelly-Bazan (@ClaudiaKellyB) September 16, 2022 12:50 p.m As late as 1pm people were starving, looking for food wherever they could. Many of the people in our group struggled to find sandwiches or proper food with food. Everyone had packed with water and lots of snacks, but not many meals?? Four hours into the experience, as everyone began to find food, most people sat whenever they got the chance. It wasn’t another 2 hours before I finally had lunch. My mom and aunt had left the queue to go ahead and find a place to sit and rest. When we caught up with them, a margherita pizza from Pizza Express was waiting for me. 5 hours in line to see the #Queen in state. So far, spirits between people are still much more broken, but many are hungry and looking for some lunch 👀 Almost to Tower Bridge and then it’s another mile to London Bridge. pic.twitter.com/AmqavlBUip — Claudia Kelly-Bazan (@ClaudiaKellyB) September 16, 2022 2:42 pm Before I had a chance to eat my pizza, we reached the next big milestone. Finally, we made it to Tower Bridge where we were able to get our bright yellow wristbands to be allowed to see the Queen lying in state. Daniel, who had brought his two young children, captured the moment with a simple phrase: “These wristbands are like a badge of honor.” As we shuffled the line, we started placing bets. What time did we think we would get to the end? Some said 5:30, 6:30, or 8. Only one of us ended up with the correct estimate: just before midnight. 5:14 pm About 8 hours into our trip, we heard some shocking news that made us feel very grateful. The queue has now opened again and the estimated waiting time was over 24 hours. By this point, it was starting to get colder with strong gusts of wind forcing many of us to don hats and coats. We were thankful that we were 8 hours in line instead of starting at the end of it. We were closer to the City of London now and the tributes to the Queen were becoming more frequent and noticeable. There was more live music especially to entertain the dedicated crowd. There were even members of a “faith Team” who were there to give words of encouragement and guidance. Another exciting news: soccer star David Beckham was in the queue with us. He had spoken to the media after 12 hours in line, saying he had joined just a few hours before our 2am group. 7:47 pm The sun began to set and the atmosphere changed drastically. The weather was now dark, cold and windy. People seemed to slow down in line and the energy levels can only be described as engaged but unsettling. By now, many were concerned about how long we had left and had given up our guessing game. As we befriended the security staff to pass the time, we started nervously asking them how long they thought it would be until the end. The answers were: 2-3 hours. Despite the dire estimates, the mindset had turned to determination, with one woman saying, “we’ve come this far, we’ve got to see it.” The sun is starting to set as we have been in line for 11 hours. The mindset of many around me has shifted to… “we’ve come this far, we have to see it.” Everyone is determined to pay tribute to #QueenElizabeth pic.twitter.com/65G8J0skTP — Claudia Kelly-Bazan (@ClaudiaKellyB) September 16, 2022 9:03 pm When we finally crossed Lambeth Bridge and entered Westminster we were 12 hours into our wait. A security man told us we had 2.5 miles to go. Many in our group couldn’t understand the math and decided to move on without giving it a second thought. Now that we were in the final stretch, people were moving with determination and motivation to complete what had become a mission. While the line was now moving at a faster pace, I began to feel jet lagged. However, I too was now determined to finish and chose to ignore the nausea and take deep breaths. CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE RECREATION NEWSLETTER 10:26 pm We knew we should be close. Security staff and police began to shout over the chatter of the crowd about what was on Westminster Hall’s no-go list. Among the obvious items were sharp objects, larger backpacks, lighters and more. But one of the unexpected items that upset many was the hand sanitizer. When asked, a security official said it was not allowed because it was “flammable”. 10:43 pm Although we expected airport-style security to take longer, it was actually one of the fastest parts of the line, taking less than 5 minutes. Just a few hundred feet from where we emerged on the other side of security, we were at the doors of Westminster Hall. We walked in and the mood changed immediately. Now it was silent, dark, sad. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Once we got in, we were one of the lucky teams. Instead of walking continuously forward, we were immobilized watching ahead while the changing of the guard took place, our eyes moving back and forth from the guards to the Queen’s coffin so beautifully placed in the center with the Imperial State Crown on top. Eventually, people began to pass by the coffin again. Our group had split into four lines that ran past the Queen. Most bowed their heads, some bowed curtly, some made the sign of the cross, some just passed by in silence. I chose to bow my head and make the sign of the cross as tears rolled down my cheeks. 10:53 pm With one last look at the Queen, we left Westminster Hall and it was over. After 14 hours on our feet and outdoors, we had paid our respects to the Queen and we all agreed: she was worth the wait. Claudia Kelly-Bazan is a field producer based in Atlanta. You can follow her on Twitter @ClaudiaKellyB or on Instagram @News_And_Shoes
