David Beckham sobs as he makes his way past the casket containing Queen Elizabeth. On Friday, after waiting for 13 hours, David Beckham wiped a tear from his eye as he approached the Queen’s coffin and told the cameras: When I arrived at 2 a.m., I figured it would be less crowded than it actually was. My mistake!
The 47-year-old football icon joined the thousands of others in the five-mile line, where he bought a box of doughnuts to give to his fellow mourners and remained undetected for hours due to the “mutual respect” he had with them.
Cameras focused gravely on the ex-England captain as he stood at the end of the line and witnessed the changing of the guard.
Beckham, a father of four, was visibly moved as he waited with the thousands to pay their respects, and he could be seen wiping a tear from his eye and covering his mouth with his palm as he made his way to the head of the procession.
After waiting in line for 13 hours, the former Manchester United striker approached the Queen’s casket at about 3.30 p.m. and bowed his head for a few seconds before moving on to make room for the others behind him.
Beckham was spotted among the crowd and gave an interview to ITV news about why he decided to wake up and attend the hundreds of thousands of mourners who are expected to visit the Queen as she lies in state.
He spoke fondly of his longstanding friendship with the Queen and the “wonderful moment” he was given an OBE.
Grandparents “truly raised me up to be a tremendous royalist and an admirer of the royal family,” so he wanted them to be there to see him receive his OBE. His wife was also present.
“I was so fortunate to have a few occasions like that in my life, to be near Her Majesty; to stand up, to get my honor, and then also Her Majesty, to ask questions, and to chat.
“Because we can all see through the love that has been expressed, how amazing she is and was and the legacy that she leaves behind… Although today is a day of mourning, it is also a day to honor her memory and the remarkable legacy she leaves behind.
As an extension of this thought, he said, “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.”
Beckham has claimed that he will always consider himself fortunate to have had so many opportunities to meet the Queen.
“To represent my country, to be captain of my nation, every time that we stood there and 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 unique,” he said.
This day was bound to be tough for the country; it’s tough for everyone, everywhere, since everyone can feel it.
Photos uploaded on social media show fans holding their phones up as they wait for the 47-year-old ex-footballer.
Some people were so preoccupied with taking pictures that they broke the line by stopping in the middle of it.
Beckham admitted he had been warned by stewards multiple times for holding up the line while posing for selfies with supporters, despite the fact that most people were delighted to see him.
For the historic event, he donned a sharp black suit and tie and a blue soft cap, but he took off the latter as he entered Westminster Hall.
According to a source close to the football player, he joined the line of people expecting to see the Queen lying in state at around 2 a.m. today.
Due to the mutual regard’ everyone had for each other, he was able to avoid being photographed for the bulk of the wait.
He informed the journalists he was there to pay his respects to the Queen “on behalf of my family and obviously to celebrate with everybody else here” while he was there by himself.
