David Beckham spotted crying near Queen’s coffin after waiting 12 hours in line to pay respects to late monarch
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: After a 12-hour wait on Friday, September 16, David Beckham wept in front of the television cameras as he approached the Queen's casket. He reached to pay his condolences after waiting in the queue with the gathered crowd.
The 47-year-old football icon, who was one of many to join the five-mile line, bought a box of donuts to distribute with the other mourners and was able to stay undetected for hours thanks to their "mutual respect" for him. A changing of the guard occurred when the former captain of England finally reached the end of the line, and he observed it gravely while broadcast cameras followed him. Beckham, a father-of-four, was spotted wiping the corner of his eye and hiding his mouth with his palm as he reached the head of the parade, as he waited his time to pay his respects among the crowd of thousands. After waiting in line for 12 hours, Beckham arrived at the Queen's coffin at around 3.30 pm. He bowed his head briefly before advancing to make room for those in front of him. " I assumed arriving at 2 am would be quieter... I was mistaken!,” Beckham said to ITV News.
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When Beckham was eventually identified in the crowd, he spoke with ITV News about what made him decide to get out of bed and see the Queen alongside the hundreds of thousands of other mourners who were anticipated to do so. He thought back warmly on the friendship he had developed with the Queen over the years and remembered the "special moment" he was presented with an OBE. “To receive my OBE, I took my grandparents with me, who were the ones that really brought me up to be a huge royalist and a fan of the royal family, and obviously I had my wife there as well,' he said. To step up, to get my honour, but then also Her Majesty, to ask questions, to talk, I was so lucky that I was able to have a few moments like that in my life, to be around Her Majesty. Because we can all see with the love that has been shown, how special she is and how special she was and the legacy that she leaves behind... It's a sad day, but it's a day for us to remember the incredible legacy that she's left.”
Beckham continued on the tragic loss suffered by the nation, "I think it’ll take a long time to understand [the Queen’s death] because I think Her Majesty meant so much in so many different ways.” Furthermore, Beckham said he will forever consider himself lucky to have met the Queen on so many occasions. “To represent my country, to be captain of my country, every time that we stood there and we wore those Three Lions shirts and I had my armband and we sang God Save Our Queen, that was something that meant so much to us and every time that we did it, it was something special,” he shared. “This day was always going to be difficult for the nation, it’s difficult for everyone around the world because everyone is feeling it.”