Scarborough man will 'queue for as long as it takes' to see the Queen

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is lying-in-state until Monday morning when her funeral takes place

Author: Karen LiuPublished 15th Sep 2022

A man from Scarborough says he is going to go and see the Queen lying-in-state and he will queue for as long as it takes.

Eric Batts will be going to Oxford this evening before he and his friends make their way from there tomorrow (Friday 16th September) to the capital.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is lying-in-state until Monday morning when her funeral takes place.

Members of the public have been queueing up in London since earlier this week to pay their respects, despite visitors being told to expect to wait as long as 30 hours to see the coffin.

Eric said: "We will set off from Oxford to London on Friday morning and obviously join the queue wherever it is. I'm doing this because my grandmother travelled to London from Oxford when the King George VI died in 1952. The lying-in-state has been something on my mind all the time ever since.

"The Queen has given us so much service over the years. In fact, I'm eight weeks older than the King but basically I want to pay my respects to a great lady as a British citizen.

"It's been a brilliant reign. The world has changed so much but despite all the problems in the world and all the problems she's had in her own family, she's been very, very steadfast and I think she's been straight, truthful, respected people's opinions and never got into any controversies.

"I don't think King Charles III won't change things rapidly. I think he'll change things progressively you know, after the funeral on Monday he's not going to start changing everything. I think he knows what's expected of him, he knows what his duties are as Sovereign and I think that he will do it as his Mother did, but as per the book if you like."

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