‘He collapsed right in front of me - how guard fainted as I paid my respects to the Queen’
Thousands of people queued into the small hours to see Her Majesty lying in state - and Maryam Zakir-Hussain was among them
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Your support makes all the difference.After eight long hours standing in a queue that stretched miles across central London, I finally got to see the Queen lying in state - but it didn’t quite go according to plan.
It had just reached midnight when we made it to the airport security-style tent outside Westminster Hall on Wednesday night.
We had already switched our phones off and emptied our bags of all food, drinks and liquids.
One of those walking with me had his vape taken away, while I quickly spritzed the last drops of a forgotten perfume I had lying at the bottom of my bag.
We left our bags in trays and they were checked before we walked through the security sensor. I was relieved that this part was surprisingly quick and I was in and out of security in just ten minutes.
We walked a little further, joining yet another queue - but this one was different, because this time we could see the glow of Westminster Hall through the open door.
Standing in front of the steps to go inside the Hall, I asked a new friend I had quickly grown attached to what I should do upon seeing the coffin.
Should I curtsey, as I had read the Duchess of Sussex was praised for doing? Ruth, a 76-year-old grandmother, advised me that I could simply bow my head in respect, as she had done when she saw the Queen Mother’s coffin.
As we were ushered inside the Hall, I took in the beauty of the Palace and imagined all these walls had seen. I couldn’t help but think of the first time Queen Elizabeth II had entered the Hall as a new monarch.
There was a deep silence in the room that felt heavy with symbolism and reverence. But this was abruptly interrupted when a royal guard positioned in front of the coffin suddenly collapsed.
Standing on the stairs, I saw him first stumble down a step or two before he repositioned himself. Within seconds, he had fainted with a loud crash as people gasped in shock and two police officers rushed over to him in panic.
The royal guard directly behind him flinched and went to help before the training kicked in and he resumed his post.
A stretcher was swiftly brought out, but the stricken appeared to quickly gained consciousness and the stretcher left the Hall empty. The guard then slowly left the Hall while other guards held onto him.
For a few moments, the focus of the world had been diverted from the Queen to this poor man but once the queue got moving again, the coffin again commanded the attention of all in the room.
Waiting on the steps for my turn to go down, I watched as members of the public, in two single-file lines, paid their respects to the late Queen. Some stood there at least a minute in deep reflection as they made the sign of the Cross for Her Majesty.
It was incredible to think that tens of thousands had queued up hours through the day and into the night for this very moment that lasted only minutes.
I reflected on what Ruth had told me when I was growing tired outside in the queue, “Remember who it is you are queuing up to see. It is the sovereign.”
After I paid my respects and slowly walked out of the Hall, I could not help but take one last look at what was now behind us. Ruth was right.
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