A solemn expression David Beckham paid his homage to Queen Elizabeth II after over 12 hours of waiting to see the Queen’s coffin lying in state.
Mourners first noticed the 47-year-old soccer star in line on Friday (16 September) morning as he approached Westminster Hall. Beckham was dressed for the occasion with a black flat cap, a suit, and a black tie.
MPs and other celebrities, including This Morning hosts Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, were chastised for “jumping the queue” as they paid their respects via a press gallery for a separate viewing.
Beckham stated to ITV News in the wait that he had joined the enormous line at 2 a.m. “I thought by coming at 2 a.m. it was going to be a little quieter. I was wrong,” he said.
The queue to visit the Queen’s casket in London was reopened on Friday after it had reached capacity after at least a 14-hour wait. The line stretching five miles across London to Westminster Hall at the House of Parliament, where the Queen’s body is lying in state until her funeral on Monday.
When asked why he came to see the Queen’s casket lying in state, Beckham said it was on behalf of his family. “I grew up in a household of royalists and I was brought up that way, so if my grandparents would have been here today, I know that they would have wanted to be here,” he said.