A superfan of the Queen who spent £3,500 flying to the UK from Australia to mourn her has extended his trip to undertake a tour of the key royal sites.
Darren Martin booked his plane tickets as soon as he heard Her Majesty had passed away last Thursday before touching down in London yesterday evening.
The 43-year-old even said he is unfazed by the prospect of queuing for over 11 hours to file past the late monarch's coffin at Westminster Hall, and will do "whatever it takes".
Soon after speaking, however, mourners were warned not to join the line as it's now too long.
Darren originally planned to fly home to Bendigo, Victoria after the funeral on Monday but has extended his holiday to 10 days so he can visit Windsor and Balmoral Castles, as well as Sandringham.
His late grandmother Peggy Martin, who died in 2017, was also a keen royalist and Darren said the Queen's death has certainly been tied into emotions with her passing.
Speaking to The Mirror from outside Buckingham Palace this morning, he said: "It’s probably going to sound really silly, but as a child I imagined my grandmother was the Queen because she reminded me of her by the way she looked and acted.
"Plus I knew she was a fan. Definitely all of those emotions were there when [the Queen] had passed."
Four years before she died, Peggy and husband Peter Martin, along with Darren, came to the UK and did the royal tour he is about to repeat.
Asked how he feels now he's arrived in the country again, he said: "It’s really hard to describe.
"There’s so many mixed emotions. I’ve been a fan of the Royal Family all my life.
"I just feel a strong connection to the UK and to the Royal Family.
"I just felt if I didn’t do this I would regret it.
"I always said to myself, my family and my close friends, the day it happened (the Queen dying) is the day I fly to the UK.
"I’m sure, like many people, I wasn’t expecting it to happen now but it has and I didn’t hesitate in booking to come."
Darren first saw the news that the Queen was unwell on what was the evening of September 8 in Australia on Twitter.
Then in the early hours of the following day he heard she had died.
"From that moment on, I didn’t go to bed at all, I was glued to the television and was on the computer looking for flights and accommodation," he explained.
He described many of the negative responses to the monarch's passing on social media as "horrific" but said that has been countered by an outpouring of grief from others.
"I think that’s quite overwhelming," he said.
"Whether you believe in the monarchy or not most people can show respect to someone who reigned for over 70 years in the way that she did."
He added that he was "glued" to the TV until he left for the airport, with his workplace allowing him to have some extended leave from his job in healthcare management.
"I just feel so strongly, I just wanted to stand outside the gates of Buckingham Palace," he continued.
"I want to go to the gardens and see the flowers and read people’s messages, I want to see her lying in state, I want to be part of the funeral - although it'll be difficult because I’ll be battling with tens of thousands of people.
"I just want to go to Windsor Castle and bow my head and pay my respects and I want to do the same at Balmoral and Sandringham.
"I felt if I didn’t do this now then it’s not appropriate to do it at another time, but also I just want to be part of the atmosphere and assuming everyone else here feels some connection, feels strongly about paying their respects and I just wanted to be part of that."
Darren still hopes to join the mammoth queue to see Her Majesty lying in state at some point over the weekend and he doesn't care how long it takes.
He said: "I’ll be honest with you, standing for that long isn’t the greatest thing on Earth, but if that’s what we have to do then we’re all prepared. No hesitation whatsoever, I will definitely be doing it."
* You can now buy last Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
