On Friday, soccer legend David Beckham queued with 1000’s of mourners outdoors Westminster Corridor for greater than 12 hours as he waited to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen is mendacity in state inside Westminster Corridor till her funeral on Monday. For now, individuals world wide — together with well-known faces like Beckham — are taking this time to honor the one monarch most of them have ever identified.
For Beckham, ready in line was each a approach to “have fun the superb life” of the Queen, and to behave as a stand-in for his late grandparents who he instructed reporters would have been there in the event that they had been alive. In keeping with the 47-year-old, he comes from a household of royalists. “I do know that they might have needed to be right here, so I am right here on their behalf, and on behalf of my household,” he instructed ITV Information.
“All of us need to be right here collectively. All of us need to expertise one thing the place we have fun the superb lifetime of our queen and I feel one thing like this at present is supposed to be shared collectively.”
In a video posted by BBC reporter Vicki Young on Twitter, Beckham shared what it was like to attend side-by-side with so many different mourners all through the day. “We have all been celebrating and telling tales,” he stated. “We’re all going by this. To be trustworthy, it is what all of us envisioned. All of us need to be right here collectively. All of us need to expertise one thing the place we have fun the superb lifetime of our queen and I feel one thing like this at present is supposed to be shared collectively. The truth that we have been right here, we’re consuming Pringles, we’re consuming sherbet lemons, we’re consuming sandwiches, having espresso, donuts.”
He continued, “Today was at all times going to be troublesome, and it is troublesome for the nation, it is troublesome for everybody world wide, as a result of I feel everyone seems to be feeling it, and our ideas are with the household and clearly with everyone right here at present.”
Beckham additionally revealed he joined the queue round 2:00 a.m. pondering he would miss the crowds. Nevertheless, finally everybody else had the identical concept. Seeing the athlete stand with the group made an affect on these round him. One mourner instructed the BBC that that they had nothing however respect for Beckham after standing with him all day. “He is stood with us and he is paid his respects how he desires to and I feel that is superb,” they stated.
Along with ready in line to pay his respects, Beckham — who beforehand met the Queen on a couple of event — penned a tribute to the monarch on Sept. 8, the day she died. “I am really saddened by the loss of life of Her Majesty, The Queen,” he wrote on Instagram, alongside a images of the Queen. “What an outpouring of affection and respect we noticed for the Platinum Jubilee for her lifetime of service. How devastated all of us really feel at present exhibits what she has meant to individuals on this nation and world wide. How a lot she impressed us along with her management. How she comforted us when instances had been powerful. Till her final days she served her nation with dignity and style. This 12 months she would have identified how cherished she was. My ideas and prayers are with our Royal Household…”
See the gallery for images from Beckham’s time ready in line to honor Queen Elizabeth.
