Crowds gather on the Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)Ī man named Raf said that even though he was from Germany originally, the Queen had been a constant presence in his life.Īlan Granley said the Queen represented “honesty, consistency, fairness generally, and she seemed to have raised a good family, which counts for a lot”.Ĭlaire Armstrong travelled to the palace because she was compelled to pay her respects to an “inspirational woman who brought the country together in difficult times”. While the spirit mostly remained warm and communal, the sheer numbers of people – and the keenness of a few to push their way to the front – made some begin to feel claustrophobic as time wore on, and police officers began yelling at people to move back. Mr Stache said at first he questioned why people were taking selfies, but said: “Once you sit down and watch, most people are not doing it out of hype, but out of disbelief.”Īs darkness came down on the city and rain also began to fall, with thousands of people still squashed up against the gates, a round of applause broke out. “Once I read the news, I came here to connect with other people. “In my mind the Queen could live forever. “The feeling that brought me here was an immediate reminder of our own end,” he said. Simon Stache, 31, had taken flowers from his kitchen table and left them at the palace gates. Many of the floral tributes were grabbed in a rush. ![]() While some people were determined to get to the front of the throng to place their flowers down personally, others were content to give theirs to the mourners ahead of them and ask for them to be passed along. One mourner said he had to have some pink in his bunch to celebrate her life, not simply commemorate her death. Another held a bouquet of white lilies someone else had chosen sunflowers. ![]() In an impromptu coming together to mark her life, the crowd began to sing “God Save the Queen”, no matter that officially the final word of the national anthem has already become “King”.
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