Family drives and waits 9 hours to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II
A family spent 9 hours driving and queuing to see the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday, saying there was a sense of camaraderie and jovial atmosphere in the crowds.
Debbie Tibbert, 58, wanted to commemorate the late monarch, along with her husband, son and a German exchange student who is currently staying with their family.
They set off from Wiltshire, southwest England, at 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning, driving three and a half hours to reach cloudy London.
The four were among the tens of thousands of mourners wanting to pay their respects, all facing long waits to see the Queen lying in state at Westminister Hall in the British capital.
As of Thursday afternoon, the line was approximately 4.2 miles (6.8 kilometres) long, snaking along the banks of the river Thames all the way to near Bermondsey Beach in Southwark, though it died down later in the evening.
After queuing for five and a half hours, which she said "was not too bad at all," Tibbert finally got the chance to "pay her respects", solemnly filing past Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall -- the oldest part of the House of Commons.
"She [the Queen] was one special lady that we want to say thank you to," said Tibbert, adding that she had "always loved" the Royal Family and came from a line of Royalists.
In the long, winding queue Tibbert said everyone was "very chatty" and "together," however as they climbed the steps into the Hall a "dignified" silence descended.
"It was really, really beautiful," she said. "None of us knew her personally, but it feels like a personal loss. She [the Queen] has always been there in our lives, serving us, dedicating her life to us, and it is really hard to not see her around anymore."
"My son said to me it feels like the world has
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