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?

@Doingprettywellthanks of course it was optional, that's why I mentioned the uptake. 58 out of 80 was good I thought, maybe slightly surprising.

@noblegiraffe I have no idea re the risk assessments they do a lot of trips including 24 hr coach trips for skiing etc so guess it wasnt too difficult for them. Its a really small school, 40-ish per year group and only took Y10 and 11. We get a Google link for forms and were told responses needed to be in quick so easier than paper forms, i also think they spoke to the DCs that day to tell them to respond if they wanted to go. I waited till DS was home from school as obviously wanted to ask him before responding.

What fascinates me is how people can physically do it - stand/shuffle forward a few steps/repeat for 12, 14, 16 hours. You can’t take a camping chair, or even sit on the ground for very long, before you have to move on.

I couldn’t do it.

I would say most of the people that went enjoyed the experience, want to be part of it; they won’t have a chance to do something like this again as we are not having another monarch who will reign for so long in their lifetime.

As someone said different people like different things. I wouldn’t stand on a queue for so long but respect those who have.

It will be the accent.

As soon as you get off the bus, with your stick over shoulder to carry your handkerchief full of your meagre belongings, you'll no doubt greet someone with 'eye up duck' or some such spluttering

And the person you speak to will just die of shock

DH did overnight on Wednesday. 7 hrs. He does not regret it at all...but didn't need to travel far as we live in London.
we were on the south Bank last night and it was really quite cold and some people were really not dressed for it. If you ever worked a night shift you know how much colder it gets at about 3am and your body temp also drops.
I saw a little girl about 6 years old in a little skirt and socks and felt really sorry for her.

@bellac11 seriously think about it....think about how much money could have been raised by all these people for the queen's charities instead of just wondering past a coffin after 12 hours or more queuing.......! I just feel a bit sick that everyone can get together for this but yet we still have division and homeless people on the streets and more important things which could be solved if people would get together in this same way for them!

I know its quite ridiculous, DSs class have a real mix of demographics, even a few non white people attended which I know a few on here clearly won't believe! The teachers said the kids were amazing, no complaining and all very respectful even after they would have been awake well over 30 hrs at that point. I was tired just having to drop them at the coach at midnight 😂

I heard about someone who is going for the second time !!

Well if we're going to use words like 'seriously'

Seriously do you think that there isnt enough money in this country to fix those problems whether or not people queue in The Queue and spend money on frivolous train tickets that you dont think are needed (or cheap bus fares if you're poor from Manchester)?

We are a wealthy nation and can easily solve housing and health issues but there isnt the political will. People choosing to queue in The Queue to see the coffin is neither here nor there.

As an aside, I love how the queue has been called the “Elizabeth Line” 😂

I agree with PP, donating to charity instead of queueing and buying flowers would be a much more productive spend of resources.

I'm surprised so few are wearing masks.

Would be interesting if the Royal Family catch covid before the funeral. Are we in for a rise in numbers with so many mixing?

What a nasty bigoted comment. And I suspect 100% bloody WRONG. And even if you're right, so fucking WHAT?

I didn't go, as I said on another thread, it would be a 13 hour round trip for me as I live in the sticks and nowhere near a train station and 250 miles north of London, I physically could not stand there that long, and it would cost money I am not prepared to spend for the train fares/underground fares/hotel etc, as I couldn't do it in one day because of the distance.

I have been to things (way back in the past,) where I queued for many hours, and I was cold and hungry and in pain from standing up so long, and it cost me a bunch of £££, and I ended up seeing very little.

So I have been viewing it all happily from my living room, where it's cosy and warm and I can see everything and everyone close up. If I had lived in London, I might have actually considered going, if the queueing time had been 4-5 hours, but like fuck would I wait 20 hours+ and overnight etc, in the cold.

Last time I waited awhile for something, was about a decade ago when me and DD waited in Leicester Square for 5 hours to see our fave film star when their film was premiering there. Totally worth it as we were in the front row, and they came right up to us and spoke to us, and we got a selfie with them.

But as for waiting for 20+ hours in the cold - and overnight too - to see a coffin for 10 seconds, No. I loved the Queen, and am a Royalist, but no. And I genuinely can't fathom why people are doing it. I just couldn't, and wouldn't.

Ha yes! Took my 5-year-old to look at the queue, because he wanted to see, but no way would I stand in it for 19 hours with him! (Fairly short tube ride to the Southbank for us so not a huge effort!)

Theres so many threads with similar conversations on at the moment I cant remember which one it was, but there was a long discussion the other day on the site about how its awful that the poor cant access The Queue because the people in The Queue are invariably well off because they can afford the travel, can afford the hotel rooms (what hotel rooms?) and its awful and discriminatory etc etc

So now we know that The Queue is full of rich but poor people who are both white but not white.

i can understand people wanting to show their respects
optismistic about the length of the queue, which has got longer day by day. i took flowers earlier in the week.

😬😂

Exactly. I love all the assumptions on here. I'm in Manchester hence why noticing her and how ill-equipped she looked.

My DH thinks some people might queue twice. I can't imagine it but who knows?
As long as no one is forcing me to do it then crack on. I've seen a pretty wide demographic of people in the queue (from the reports I've seen on the news)

I'm not sure why someone getting a bus from Manchester suggests they can't afford to go, though? How could you tell from that snippet of info?

Really? Why would people be wearing masks outdoors, do they do that where you live? Everyone is back to normal in my day to day life and has been for ages.

Oh do get a grip.

Masks? Please!!!

There was a baby crying during the vigil of the princes yesterday. I know babies cry but not really the time or place.

I could not imagine dragging baby round a queue for 12+ hours, there's just no need.

🙄 What a ridiculous thing to say.

Masks?! It’s not 2020 anymore 😂

I can speak about the queueing bit. Especially after all the isolation with cancer and then COVID not long after I was personally out of the woods, being surrounded by friendly people, spending time with mum with no distractions (we aren't the best communicators and often find something else to busy ourselves with instead of talk), being out in the fresh air, it was actually incredibly therapeutic.

Sure, we could just take a walk or go to a cafe or something but I do think it's different when you're 'forced' to commit to an activity and see it through. I thought a lot about my life and where it's going, cleared up a long term misunderstanding between mum and me, and in a silly way it made me like people a bit more because everyone surrounding us was nice and friendly whereas being on the internet all you're surrounded by (most of the time at least) is misogyny and cynicism and it's hard to see past that when most people (around my age) spends more time online than off these days.