The last stretch to the Westminster hall increases the long wait by more than five hours
“In an hour we will be with the Queen!”, the pensioner George proclaimed to his neighbors in the queue of Elizabeth II’s wake. The group was walking along the south bank of the Thames, facing the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, and the calculation of time seemed logical. They had been moving at a good pace for two hours from their initial match point, in the vicinity of London Bridge and about four kilometers from the burning chapel, according to the official queue tracker posted on social media. They only had a short distance left to reach the goal. But the illusion of being a direct witness to a historical episode with an international echo led to a situation of “torture”, according to the British national of German heritage.
The final distance from Westminster Bridge to the Parliamentary Palace where the monarch has rested since yesterday, which passes through the wall of covid victims before crossing the Thames, takes less than half an hour on a normal day. George and his new friends from the royal wake took five hours to cover it the night before last. They blame the zigzag security system operating in the last 500 meters of the course. The repetitive back and forth path of passers-by extends through the gardens of the Victoria Tower, adjoining the entrance to the House of Lords. “From bridge to bridge it took forever, but the zigzag queue was torture. You get there tired and the zigzag chain is exasperating”, confesses the retiree.
Exhausted, but with help in sight. Many of the 500 portable toilets have been installed in the gardens, which dot the route of fifteen or more kilometers of queue scheduled until early Monday morning. Crews of the 779 official controllers plus 170 volunteers from the Samaritans, the Scouts and other organizations are also on hand. Some and others provide assistance to walkers or impart information on the rules of behavior and safety in force to enter the burning chapel.
Preparations
Some 200,000 people said goodbye to Queen Mother Elizabeth in Westminster in 2002. More than 300,000 joined the river of condolences for the sudden death of George VI in 1952, which inaugurated the second Elizabethan reign in British history. This week between 350,000 and 750,000, according to different estimates, are expected to visit the funeral chapel of the same historic Westminster hall. The enclosure will be closed to the public at 6.30 in the morning (7.30 peninsular time) on Monday 19, when preparations will begin to move the coffin to Westminster Abbey, where the funeral rites will be held.
The guests of honor will have the opportunity to say goodbye to the queen on her arrival in London. Meanwhile, the constant trickle of politicians, officials and parliamentary employees, who “skip the queue” to see the coffin on which the monarch’s imperial crown is worn, begins to unnerve a few, according to ‘The Times’ and other media. The ‘VIPs’ usually parade along a row parallel to that of the crowd, although they inevitably cause certain delays or even stops in the flow of the river of citizens eager to say goodbye to their queen.
Carlos III is scheduled to join the vigil tomorrow afternoon. He will be accompanied by his sister Ana and his brothers, Andrés and Eduardo, who have displayed a facade of unity since the death of the matriarch eight days ago. The children of Elizabeth II will stand guard around her catafalque, occupying the position of the king’s bodyguard service and other military bodies that take turns every six hours in the constant and continuous surveillance of the mortal remains of the monarch.
Elizabeth II will lie next to her husband Felipe in the Royal Chapel of Windsor
Elizabeth II will lie next to her husband, Prince Philip of Edinburgh, in the Royal Chapel of Windsor that the late monarch had built in memory of her father, George VI, in the 1960s. The funeral will mark the end of the longest chapter in the history of the British monarchy and will serve as the culmination of ten days of national mourning and international commotion, which will culminate in the state funeral, which will be held on Monday in Westminster Abbey.
That night, the queen’s coffin will rest in the royal crypt of the church of Saint George, where her late husband rests since April 2021. The remains of the couple will later be transferred to the chapel of King George VI. In this sacred annex, the parents of Isabel II are buried and the ashes of her sister, Margarita, were deposited.
The burial will take place in family privacy, after listening to prayers with members and officials of the royal houses and receiving the blessing of the dean of the chapel. The state ceremony, in the presence of the king and queen of Spain and almost half a thousand foreign dignitaries, will take place in the morning in the main London temple of the Anglican Church.
The funeral procession will carry the monarch’s coffin, with its distinctive regalia and imperial crown, in procession from the Houses of Parliament in Westminster to nearby Westminster Abbey, where the funeral will begin at 11 a.m. local time. Two minutes of silence, followed by the British national anthem, will mark the end of the religious service, in which the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, will intervene and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will give the sermon.
King Carlos, his brothers and sons, among other relatives, will regroup again and will walk behind the mortal remains through the political and tourist center of the capital. The procession will march to the sound of military bands down The Mall and through Buckingham Palace to stop under Wellington Arch on the south corner of Hyde Park. From there, the coffin will be transferred by road to Windsor Castle, the abode and final destination of Elizabeth II.
#Frustration #doors #wake #Elizabeth