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?

Why do I need to get a grip @WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps ? I'm not the one freezing my ass off potentially catching Covid or God knows what else with 1000s of other people, spending over £100 on a train ticket (as some have!) to stand/walk for 12 hours to see a coffin for 1 minute.. why not donate to the queen's charity of your choice and watch on TV then go to your local church if you are religious or monument and pay your respects there.

One thing I have found really interesting about MN over the past few days is how many republicans/anti monarchists really despise the poor. Isn't that interesting? On every thread there's someone sneering at people queueing and then diagnosing them as being both stupid and poor (as if those things are synonyms). It's so revealing.

I saw something yesterday where a poster said people on benefits did not have full lives. Like... what. If you don't want to queue, don't queue. I personally left central London with relief a few days ago. I'm not a monarchist and I have no interest in queuing to see the Queen. But the prejudices betrayed on here are to me as surprising and they are abhorrent. Who knew republicans were such snobs!!

DH went. Left home at about 3 am, drove the the outskirts of London, got a train and joined the queue around 6 am. Got into Westminster Hall around 5 pm, and was lucky enough to be at the front when they did the 'changing of the guards', so saw that ceremony, before he was able to bow to HM and move through.

He called me when he left and said he'd found the whole thing quite emotional. The atmosphere in Westminster Hall was extremely powerful. He'd thanked one of the police officers who guided him, who said it was his honour to be there for the Queen.

He was lucky to be with some lovely people in the queue, one couple were telling him all about their visit to Brazil, where we are planning to go in 2023, as well as the inevitable talk about the Royal Family. He said that people in the queue were extremely impressed with both Anne and Sophie, and how supportive they'd been towards the new King.

The Tate and Globe and other places along the way had their facilities available, so as long as you had a wristband, you were fine. The queue moved pretty quickly until the last mile.

We are royalists, DH was keen to go to pay his respects, he's fit, healthy, newly retired and didn't spend our food money on fuel!!! (Some of the assumptions thrown about on this thread are crazy). He is also ex-forces, so the Queen was his boss. I would have gone, but have surgery on Wednesday and don't want to risk picking up Covid or any other bug at the moment.

He is very happy that he 'bothered'.

You need to GET A GRIP because it's got FUCK ALL to do with you what people spend their money on. They do NOT have to stay away and give the money to charity, and if they want to freeze their ass off all night, that's up to them and has shag-all to do with you. I wouldn't do it for the reasons I stated earlier in the thread, but if others want to, then good for them! Just mind your own business.

You have just discovered anti monarchists/wokies/lefties on here despise the poor?????

Wake up. I thought it was common knowledge!!! 😂

DH called me just before he went in to the Hall, so I was able to watch him on the Livestream and see his visit throughout. That was very touching for me. Felt he was representing all the family. Our oldies felt the same too.

I can’t imagine anyone will admit to wishing they hadn’t gone. They probably wouldn’t even admit it to themselves.

Why would anyone wish they hadn't gone?

that is lovely @ajandjjmum
the camera just cut away to 5 royal cars

oh dear is it getting shouty?

people go for all sorts of reasons, yes some will be rich, poor, white or not, some may herding, have been brainwashed by media or want to bc they have had the queen as their boss.

Or another reason.Whatever. who are we to say.

I do think it's a phenomenon, just like what happened after princess Di died. I find it vv interesting (from my comfy sofa).

Ive never been so grateful for a comfy sofa

This is anonymous, so why wouldn't people admit it if it were so?
I know an Earl who went, a history of art professor and a nurse. Lots of different people from all walks of life. The media choose who to speak to and what to show.
If you don't care for it, why care that others do?

@GrandOleOtter first of all sorry to hear about the cancer but congratulations on being a survivor. It's good to hear someone explain their motivation for going. However you haven't really mentioned the queen so I guess she wasn't your main motivation for going but to spend time with your mum/social. And if it brings people together then that's a good thing..although I do worry about spread of Covid because although its not in the news because people aren't currently dying (thanks vaccine!) It is rife, in the last week 10 people in my works London office have tested positive alone. Was this not something which concerned you presumabley having a lowered immune system after cancer treatment? People scoffing about masks have very short memories. Would a sponsored walk for your favoured cancer charity with your mum not have given the same sense of achievement and time to reflect? Or was it about the queen for you, did you feel very attached to her? I'm not asking to be nasty I'm genuinely curious!! Because I've struggled to understand it. I understood the out pouring of grief with Princess Diana because it was sudden and horrible and she left her lovely young boys behind. But even that began to get a bit creepy after a while and several decades later

The last time I stood in a queue hours long was in 1980 (at night, in the snow) for tickets for Roxy Music. Nothing would entice me to join The Queue, but I have no problem at all understanding why people are.

There seems so much incredulity to the point of anger that we all have different priorities. National mourning rituals are hardly new or outrageous, large numbers queued for Georges V and VI, for Churchill, for the Queen Mother, in the recentish past.

I wish I'd gone.

I feel indifferent to the royal family. I wouldn't want to do it even for all the riches they have. I am regretting not going earlier in the week though, when they queued was shorter. From TV, the queue itself all looked part of the whole experience and looked really fun to be in. Much friendlier than your average pub were you might stand around for hours and you get to meet people from all over. Then the sombre moment in the hall, probably the only time I would ever get to be in that building and a place of so much history.

I don't want to sound disrespectful of the queen, I think she deserves a lot of respect. I reckon I would have loved the whole experience, and it was free to get in. I really wish I'd gone, even as a republican.

Besides, I've probably spent more time queuing at Legoland, and that was shit.

I suspect I'll be flamed but I got the distinct impression from some of the viewees that they'd gone more for the spectacle and to gawp . Maybe hoping to see a Royal or , more likely, just to be part of the spectacle.

Keep hearing phrases like ' I needed to be here' and 'It's history, innit?'

I'll get me coat.

Don't know whether anyone has mentioned this but a group of social scientists/ psychologists are apparently carrying out real time research on the queue (r4 this morning) and one of the things they looked at was demographics. Apparently first results suggests it's pretty representative of the nation as a whole if you except the very young and very old.

Went to the one in Edinburgh (queue was shorter at five hours) but worth it. Very moving experience.

@WhileMyGuitarGentlyWeeps well that's charming isn't it! Why are you on here then? Because its also sweet all to do with you too! 😜 I said each to their own BUT that doesn't mean I'm not curious why they do it! I want to understand them, this is a lot of people! Am I just very unpatriotic and they are all patriots and unfailing loyal? The reasons people go so far I am seeing are actually not a lot to do with the queen...they are more their own personal motivations. I did not say anyone HAD to stay away and give their money to charity did I? I just said in my opinion I guess that would be a better way to pay respects to the dead by helping the living and that is what I intend to do. I like to think its what the queen would have wanted but I don't know her so who can say?! Would she have wanted people to come out and queue for hours to walk past her coffin? I don't know that either?! We can't ask her now can we?! It's just a very interesting phenomenon in my opinion and I think the point of this thread is for people to offer their different opinions and learn what others think about it. But if you don't want to do that and only hear your own viewpoint in an echo chamber you can always leave?

The queue seems full of middle aged women in anoraks. And im mid 50s so i know what they look like. Its like a clash between north korea and asda.

I've been trying to work out if l was walking past if I would queue to go in and if so for how long. I am trying to be honest with myself and think I could hack 45 mins max.

I guess I hadn't noticed it so blatantly! People are so up front about it this week.

Nice story. I know I will regret not going (just like not seeing the poppies at the Tower) but I just can’t spare the time 🙃.

I think it's a bit ignorant to judge a whole group (i.e. republicans) on one post here.