KUALA LUMPUR – Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state ended around 6.30am London time today, after an estimated 400,000 mourners paid their respects to her at Westminster Hall in London since Wednesday.
The Daily Mail online said the last member of the public to pay respects to the Queen was Christina Heerey, who is with the Royal Air Force.
She was in the last queue of people allowed in last night to view the Queen’s coffin before the lying-in-state ended this morning.
Heerey was reported saying that she began queuing yesterday afternoon at about 4.45pm London time. She even paid her respects to the queen twice, rejoining the queue after viewing the royal coffin around 1.15am earlier.
Heerey said she felt she “needed to go through again” after the first viewing, describing the Queen as “an amazing lady that will never be replaced”.
As a member of the Air Force, she said she had also sworn her allegiance to the Queen and was very proud to have served Her Majesty.
Heerey spent 14 hours waiting but said it was “worth it”, and plans to attend the queen’s funeral, to be held at Westminster Abbey, at 11am London time (6pm Malaysia time).
The Queen will then be buried at Windsor Castle, next to her husband, Prince Philip, at the St George’s Chapel. – The Vibes, September 19, 2022
