The crowds, respectful and good-humoured in front of the Palace; the flowers — for every other person in the vast throng, from Hyde Park Corner to the Mall via Green Park, had a bunch; the patient queue of people waiting in an enormous line to pay their respects: you know what it all reminded me of? Yep, the enormous gathering of mourners who came to pay their respects to Princess Diana, when it seemed like London thronged around Kensington Palace. That was back in 1997. Twenty five years on, it’s the same spectacle, only this time it’s for the Queen.
Just a few days have passed since the death of the Queen but it feels like everyone has felt a kind of gravitational pull towards Buckingham Palace, the place we most associate with her. Last week the crowds could leave their flowers right outside the railings of the Palace but now you have to go on a long detour through Green Park and right around the top of the Mall, taking in a nice view of St James’s Park. Security firm workers in high-vis orange jackets are everywhere, next to the police in high vis yellow, who are friendly to the crowds. There are black signs en route, directing the flower-bearers to a huge patch of Greek Park which is steadily getting covered with bouquets, candles, bunches, balloons, hand-drawn pictures of the Queen ... as well as cards, letters and poems.
