A woman from Powys was among the thousands of people who waited in line to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II at her lying-in-state and funeral.
Michelle Mitchell, from Newtown, travelled to London on Friday, September 16, with her sister in preparation for the late monarch’s state funeral which they hoped to see in person.
However, when she heard news of the ever-stretching queue to see Queen Elizabeth II’s lying-in-state at Westminster, they rushed to join the line and did so at 11.50pm on Friday.
After waiting in line through the night, they arrived at Westminster Hall to see the Queen at approximately 1.50pm on Saturday, spending roughly 14 hours in the queue.
Describing her time in the queue, Michelle said: “We realised on Friday night that the end of the queue was only a few miles from where we were staying so we decided to run down and see what it was like, then we found ourselves joining the end.
“It was a long, cold night to wait, but there were people from the Salvation Army offering blankets, people from their homes came out with hot drinks, there was a real sense of community.
“The hardest part was a stretch of time where we didn’t seem to move for two hours. They had stopped letting people in so they could rehearse some of the funeral proceedings for Monday.”
At its longest, the wait time was more than 24 hours with the queue itself stretching more than 10 miles from Westminster to Southwark Park.
On Sunday morning, people were advised not to set off to join the queue as the entry point might close before they would reach the end. The queue eventually closed on Sunday evening.
People in the queue received coloured wristbands so they could leave for a drink, or go to the toilet, and then return.
Describing the scene when she reached the end of the queue on Saturday afternoon, Michelle added: “It was complete chaos at the front of the queue as people had bags checked and were ushered towards Westminster Hall.
“But once we reached the front steps of the hall, there was utter silence.
“It was overwhelming, the contrast between the size and grandeur of the room she was in and the complete silence from everyone within that room. It was almost haunting.”
On Sunday evening, Michelle and her sister camped out on the Mall to get a front row view of the funeral procession as it went by, joining approximately 250,000 people in the crowd.
She said: “We regretted not going to other royal events of the decade such as the weddings and jubilees, so we resolved that we would be there in person when this one inevitably arrived.
“It was amazing and incredibly emotional to see it all unfold, to see the crowds and tributes flooding in. It’s a moment I won’t ever forget.”
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