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Susanna Reid queued for more than 7 hours to witness the Queen lying in state: ‘At once majestic and peaceful’-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro
Susanna offered tips for other queuers.
Good Morning Britain host Susanna shared tips for other queuers (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
Susanna Reid has revealed she waited in queues for more than seven hours yesterday to visit the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall.
The Queen’s coffin arrived at 3pm on Wednesday after the Royal Family accompanied her on foot in an emotional final farewell to Buckingham Palace.
She will lie in state for four days before the nation says goodbye at her funeral on Monday morning.
At the time of writing, the queue to see Queen Elizabeth II is reaching almost five miles, an estimated 11.5 hours of queuing time.
Susanna joined those queuing yesterday to pay her visit, taking to Twitter afterwards to write: ‘Evening – along with my lovely mum and her very good friend, I have just experienced a moment in history – witnessing the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall. At once majestic and peaceful.
‘If you are planning to queue here are our tips. We joined at 1.23pm near Butlers Wharf and entered Westminster Hall at 8.43pm – 7 hours 20 mins. Wear the comfiest shoes you own. Go with someone if you can, although everyone in the queue was friendly.’
Queen Elizabeth II died on Thursday, 8 September, aged 96 (Picture: Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Continuing her thread, the Good Morning Britain host added further tips, highlighting that there is no queue jumping.
She wrote: ‘Don’t carry too much in a bag – water is freely available and there are lots of cafes along the route. Also plenty of toilets. I put my phone on low battery mode and it lasted the entire time.
‘The first part of the queue is for wristbands. Ours were given out at Tower Bridge about an hour after we began queuing. There is no queue jumping – people waited patiently for wristbands and once you have one you can leave the queue for snacks/loo stops & slip back in.’
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The Queen’s coffin lies in Westminster Hall (Picture: Tim Rooke/Shutterstock)
Some mourners got there two days early in a bid to say goodbye to the country’s monarch of 70 years (Picture: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Replying to comments on her Tweet, Susanna added that her mum was able to find places to sit in that time, writing: ‘A number of times on the public benches along the route. It is a challenge standing for that long.’
Many social media users praised Susanna’s patience and determination to see the Queen despite the queues, while others applauded her for actually queuing rather than skipping the line.
This comes after Piers Morgan slammed MPs for jumping the queue on his TalkTV show uncensored last night.
The ex-GMB host said: ‘The MPs behaviour is rank entitlement and frankly a royal slap in the face to ordinary members of the public.
‘Why do MPs think they are better than the rest of us? If you want to pay your respects Members of Parliament, well get in line with everybody else!’
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It is estimated the queues are set to grow even longer in the coming days – with waits of up to 30 hours predicted.
Some mourners got there two days early in a bid to say goodbye to the country’s monarch of 70 years.
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