Or the new iPhone
BTW, did the Gentlemen at Arms replace the Royal Company of Archers? I don’t see the archers there any longer.
the queen’s children are tonight, her grandchildren tomorrow. harry will wear a military uniform.
1 pm EST I believe.
Upthread someone said the Vigil of the Princes is at 1930 local time.
My absolute max wait time for a rollercoaster is about 45 mins. And that had better be a really, really good one.
In all seriousness, we said to the kids that if they really wanted to go then we’d take them up on the train and queue with them but it certainly wouldn’t be my idea of fun (though it certainly is an historic event). They politely declined though I was surprised that my daughter particularly seemed very moved by the whole thing. I guess it is the enormity and gravity of the coverage and the formality of the ceremonies as much as anything.
David Beckham was seen paying his respect this morning and then it emerged that yes, he queued through the night, hence looking a bit dishevelled:
One of the people in The Queue tweeted:
The Queue is now full of people trying to photograph David Beckham and forgetting to actually move onwards.
It’s madness! I feel a bit sorry for him, but he’s taking it very well.
It’s made me almost forget that we’ve been in The Queue almost TWELVE HOURS though."
*Edited to use upper case in the word queue as everyone else seems to be doing it and that’s how language works.
Missed that. Did they look like this lot?
If so, they’re Chelsea Pensioners - retired military personnel who served a minimum 30 years, and now get to live in an amazing retirement home set up by Charles II. They get free front row seats at every good gig going - Wimbledon Final, Last Night of the Proms, Madonna gigs, you name it.
That’s because it’s no longer a queue, it’s The Queue, and proper nouns deserve respect.
Not a typo, it really was Charles II.
That definitely sounds like the Chelsea Pensioners then.
As the winner of the match, she’s entitled to their vehicles.
The Archers are the royal bodyguard in Scotland. The stood vigil in Edinburgh. The Yeomen and Gentlemen at Arms are the royal bodyguard in England. They stand vigil in London.
Wasn’t the guard who fainted a couple of days ago from the Archers?
I stand corrected. It happened on the 15th. It happened right as one set of guards (English) was relieving another set of guards (Scottish). The poor guy almost made it to the end of his shift, but not quite.
So were the Archers sent home in shame?
More likely there are only a few of them in London to begin with.
It occurs to me that, every time I have looked, the soldiers standing vigil were either Archers (green uniforms with berets), Yeomen (Tudor-era uniforms), Gentlemen (red tailcoats and plumed helmets), or Guardsmen (red tunics and bearskin hats). Have any other regiments taken a turn?
Too bloody right.
The Household Cavalry has occasionally been there instead of the Guards.
And the Yeomen Warders of the Tower of London are occasionally mixed in with the Yeomen of the Guard (the only visual difference is that the Warders don’t have the belt running diagonally from their left shoulders).
The Queue is open again, but estimated wait time is now over 24 hours. 