Strictly Come Dancing pro Neil Jones has opened up about his experience of queuing for in excess of 12 hours to see Her Majesty the Queen lying in state - describing it as "one of the most incredible moments of my life".
The 40-year-old professional dancer joined the rest of the queuing public wishing to pay their respects at Westminster Hall on Sunday.
Access to the official queue itself ended later that evening, as per requirements to meet the 6.30am closure of the traditional lying in state period.
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The PA News Agency reports that on Monday, Neil took to Instagram to apologise for his lack of communication while paying his respects. He wrote: "Sorry for not replying to everyone yesterday. As you could see from my stories we queued for over 12 hrs to pay our respects to the Queen lying in state.
“I have to say this is one of the most incredible moments of my life which I will never forget, I want to thank everyone we met while walking yesterday, thank you for the conversations, laughter and entertainment, most of all sharing the experience all together. We had a mum and daughter who were pushing her son in a wheelchair and were told many times they could skip the line and fast track but they declined every time because they wanted to walk with us all.
“Your Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Thank you.”
Jones has been a professional partner on Strictly since 2016, dancing with celebrity contestants Alex Scott and Nina Wadia.
He was not the only famous face to queue for the lying in state, with David Beckham and Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid also joining the public line.
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