Has anyone been to the Lying In State and wished they hadn't bothered?

[Reallybadidea]

Just being nosey really. I'm not the most patient of people and can't imagine queuing for hours for anything. Has anyone been and found it a bit of a letdown once they got to the end (beginning?) of The Queue?

Even if you did, I doubt they could admit it to even themselves after all the queuing!

Many many children who have been dragged along will sure as heck have thought this. Poor things

Cognitive dissonance at work I think. It's hard to admit that something that took a lot of effort wasn't worth it, so we tend to say it was.

Is be annoyed if I ended up in the back row after 20 hrs queuing

No-one will admit it. Just saw a woman on the news, getting the bus from Manchester on her own to go. Probably spending money she can't really afford.

The demographic I would hazard a guess definitely leans towards those on a low income or benefits.

Not PC but I suspect the truth.

and before anyone mentions “David beckham”… “leans towards” doesn’t mean “all”!

I didn't go, nor did I have the desire to do so; but I've seen some of the footage on the news. I cannot fathom how many people (adults) have just been walking nonchalantly, as though they were sauntering down to the local Spar for some milk.

I know people will want to pay their respects in their own way - absolutely fine, of course - and some will be sombre and bowing, whilst others just want to be there and be part of a historic occasion; but not even looking towards the coffin in the minute or less that they have in the room, after hours and hours of queuing to 'see' it? Loads of them.

I wonder if a lot of people have just been doing it because they thought that they 'should', FOMO, maybe, or even just so they can tell people that 'I was there' and regale them with their stories of queuing for years to come.

In fact, I may well be wrong about this, but I wonder if it was largely a herd-mentality thing - ironically, if all of these people could somehow have waited for 5 minutes or so and then walked straight in, without all the big build-up, whether many of them would actually have bothered to do so?!

This is the weirdest snobbery. What is your point? Most people on a low income would have to be at work!

how many people (adults) have just been walking nonchalantly, as though they were sauntering down to the local Spar for some milk.

I didn't phrase that particularly clearly - I mean when they actually get inside the hall and go past the coffin; of course they will have been walking/sauntering nonchalantly when still moving along for miles in the queue outside.

I think that’s bit of a leap. The people I saw on the telly looked like they came from a full range of demographics, and they all seemed to enjoy the camaraderie of the queue and the experience as a whole. Just because it’s not your cup of tea shouldn’t stop you understanding that different people value different things.

Running the London Marathon for example takes a far larger investment in time and money than a twenty hour queue, is actively painful and carries some risks. I wouldn’t do it for a thousand pounds. But a little bit of imagination enables me to understand why people feel that the communal experience is worth the time and effort.

Really ? I only know 2 people who’ve been, one being my elderly dad, and neither are on benefits/ low income. One works as a doctor and my Dad is a retired director of an IT company.

In fact, I may well be wrong about this, but I wonder if it was largely a herd-mentality thing - ironically, if all of these people could somehow have waited for 5 minutes or so and then walked straight in, without all the big build-up, whether many of them would actually have bothered to do so?!

Interesting point and I suspect true for a lot of people, for whom being part of the queue, with the potential to see celebs, be interviewed by the media, be on the telly etc was a big attraction. Even if they don't admit it to themselves.

I do admire their stamina though, being able to stand for so long. I couldn't do that - even if I wanted to.

They do look like they're nipping down to the shops. It's so strange. I've noticed that if the person in front nods or bows then people start to follow suit behind them. But then if someone doesn't bow and just saunters past the rest follow in the same way.

There was a bloke (Professor type) on R4 this morning who has random sampled the Queuers: said there wasn't any sort of strong bias in their social group. They came from all demographics, ages. Slightly more liberal than rest population and mostly there to express... gratitude. But were more from SouthEast so about as affluent as SE people. I was surprised because the crowd looked so white to me.

They will have been looking towards the coffin, you are only seeing one fixed camera angle and it can be deceptive

Some woman was in the news regarding a man nearby who grabbed at the coffin. She had her 8 year old niece there, queuing for 13 hours. That’s ridiculous. And cruel IMO

Depends when you look I guess, I’ve put it on twice for 10 mins or so and have been surprised by how many people aren’t white, and also how young a lot of them are. Although that’s party about the standing obviously.

Why should be surprised that the crowd was so ‘white’. White people are still 85 % of the population, probably quite a lot more in the older demographic. Real life is not like the tv adverts.

I've been surprised by the amount of young children. I can understand adults wanting to do it but I've seen very young children who (even by MN standards 😉) I imagine are too young to have actually made a choice to pay their respects to the Queen. If they do remember it when they are older it might be "a very long, cold and boring wait for something not very exciting" rather than feeling proud you took part in a historical event.
Or maybe I am just being cynical!

Ridiculous taking kids along. And no, it's not the camera angle. I've watched people saunter past without moving their head, lots of them.

I shouldn't think so. It's not as if you're queuing up for a surprise? You know exactly what it's going to be like.

I honestly can't imagine taking my kids when they were younger, I'd have probably thrown them into the river after the first hour

@EcoTourist yes because they are the same thing with the same benefits to the individual.

😂😂

I couldn't think of anything worse than queuing a whole day, with my kids when they were very young (even now they would whinge)

I bet there’s a higher than average non vaccinator in that queue. I’d put a lot of money on it actually! 😂