Allegedly - some years ago the Queen was touring a candy factory in St John’s, Newfoundland. A worker was monitoring a tub of brown goo, when the Queen asked him “What exactly do you make here?” He responded “12.75 an hour, your Majesty.”
Oddly, the blown kisses are what gets to me. These people, right or wrong, felt like they had a personal connection to Her Majesty.
You can call it anachronistic, outdated, immoral, whatever. Symbols have power. And she was a pretty damn good symbol for a LOOONG time. The vast majority of the people I’ve seen walking through have never known another.
Spotted the queen of Denmark.
A photo apparently from behind the scenes at Westminster Hall, where the guards who are standing vigil take their breaks.
The chairs are comfy, not massage.
Are they watching the vigil on their break?
Yes, I haven’t followed the live stream and so was envisioning a 13 hour long packed Disney World style of queue, with little way out for creature comforts.
I can see now how this is more of a moment of fellowship and contemplation, and, as you said, a shared experience.
Sometimes the camera shows a view of those in the upper gallery, and I gather they’re someone important but I don’t recognize them, so I sort of wish there was captioning to identify them.
Greece is leaving, I believe that is Pavlos.
No massage chairs as far as I can see, but they look pretty relaxed:
They look after the cops too:
As the Met gears up for Monday’s state funeral - the force has released some figures behind its large policing operation:
Deployed 231 coaches to transport officers over the last seven days, with a further 250 coach trips up to and including the day the Queen’s funeral
Supplied almost 500 extra vehicles to numerous parts of the Met
Across London 24,000 barriers (covering 36km), 5,000 cones and 1,630 signs have been placed across the capital
Catering team has issued around 25,000 snack bags, 50,000 bottles of water and 28,000 cups of tea and coffee
Six feeding centres with drinking water, power, lighting, toilets and facilities for officers to sit and eat were set up in the first three days.
It looks like they’re letting the people who have been managing The Queue in to view now. That’s very classy.
ETA: The Queue is closed to new attendees.
I wondered when they would close it.
On to the welsh guards.
According to PBS, the stations that will air the funeral will be airing the BBC coverage. At least where I live (KQED, San Francisco), this appears to include the committal portion at the chapel at Windsor Castle, which is supposed to start at 11 AM Eastern.
I’ll be going with BBC World News. I’m reluctant to record a US telecast because they’ll either have ill-timed commercials or spend their time spotting celebrities in the crowd or talk over the goings on.
The queue is now mostly single file and moving very slowly. ISTM they need to start vigorously ushering people into the room if everyone who is still in line is going to make it.
I suspect they cut the queue entry with a healthy safety margin and are comfortable they can get everybody in at this pace. They may also be getting ready for the nightly cleanup.
I hope they don’t have to tell someone who has been waiting in line for 14 hours “Sorry, but we’re stopping the entry and you can’t get in.”
True. It’s me getting antsy. I guess I can’t control the proceedings from South Texas. But I’m trying, with sheer willpower.
the last armbands have been granted
We were the last people allowed to join the queue’
Kristian Johnson
Reporting from the queue
Mother and daughter Christine and Sarah Rogers
BBCCopyright: BBC
Mother and daughter Christine and Sarah Rogers, who travelled from Woodbridge in Suffolk, were the final two people handed wristbands late on Sunday evening, granting them entry to the queue.
When the pair were told they would be the last people allowed to enter Westminster Hall before 06:30 BST on Monday, there were moans of disappointment from the crowd waiting behind them.
Seconds later, though, people burst into applause - despite the fact they’d missed out on wristbands themselves.
“When they came up and said that, I couldn’t believe it,” says Christine. “I really couldn’t. It was fantastic.”
“She’s been a constant in my life. To just go there and say thank you, it means a lot.”
Going by the posting of BBC announcements they were given the bands about 6 minutes before they closed the entryways