Football legend David Beckham waited more than 12 hours along with members of the public who waited in the queue for Queen Elizabeth II's lying-in-state at Westminster Hall. While waiting, Beckham spoke with reporters by the queue.
“We all want to be here together, we all want to experience something where we celebrate the amazing life of our queen,” he said per CNN. “You know something like this today is meant to be shared together. So, you know the fact that we’ve been here. We’re eating Pringles. We’re eating Sherbet Lemons, sandwiches, and coffee."
Beckham went on to reveal to ITV News that he "grew up in a household of royalists" and was there on behalf of his grandparents who he said would have been in that line if they were still alive. The athlete also recalled how lucky he was to have met the Queen on several occasions and how it was an honor to play for the national English football team.
“You know I always wanted to represent my country, to be captain in my country, and every time that we stood there when we wore those Three Lion shirts, and I had my armband and we sang, you know, ‘God save our queen.’ That was something that meant so much to us,” he said.
As members of the public line up to pay their respects at the Queen's coffin which will lie in state until her funeral on Monday, September 19th, CNN reports that the queue snakes from Westminster Hall for miles along the south bank of the River Thames. The royal family has planned for the queue to be as long as nine miles.