‘You could hear a pin drop’: Northampton women describe ‘surreal’ experience of #QueueForTheQueen

A group of Northampton women have shared what it was like to be part of the monumental queues in London to see the Queen lying-in-state.

Carla Bazeley, Georgie Wykes and Michelle Donegal left Northampton Railway Station at 2.05pm on Saturday (September 17) and went straight to join the queue to see Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin in Westminster Hall.

Carla said: “We are royalists and we love the Queen. We wanted to be a part of it and we really wanted to say goodbye.

“We queued for 11 to 12 hours but it wasn’t like a queue you would imagine. It was like a guided tour of London. We saw all the sights.

“There were marshalls, support workers, St John’s Ambulance workers and police everywhere. It was really well organised.

“They were giving away free water, tea and coffee at certain points and there were loads of places to get food.

“We met loads of nice people in the queue and everyone was sharing their sweets.”

The women eventually entered Westminster Hall in the early hours of Sunday morning (September 18).

Carla added: “As soon as you walked through the door there was a different atmosphere. You could hear a pin drop.

“My friend had a coughing fit, though.

“It was surreal, you can’t explain the atmosphere in there. It was overwhelming.

“I’m glad we went to see her and we got to be there to know the feeling.”

The women all watched the funeral together today (September 19) as the nation mourns the Queen.