The sheer number of people expected to file past the Queen’s coffin as she lies in state has produced a giant queue snaking through central London along the River Thames.
As well as numerous interviews with the people spending their time waiting to access Westminster Hall, the line has sparked memes and gentle humour online, not least because queueing is one of the things the British do so well.
Some have suggested that you are either in the queue, or watching the queue with fascination. Or possibly puzzlement.
There are two types of people in the UK right now:
— Emma Henderson (@emmashenderson) September 14, 2022
1. The people in the queue
2. The people watching the queue with fascination
The queue has come to symbolise the two positions you can take on the death of the Queen, neatly summed up in this one image featuring Ade Edmundson and Rik Mayall that went viral last week.
This is the entire UK right now summarised in one image pic.twitter.com/7dE5fTHTM9
— Jim (@Jimllpaintit) September 9, 2022
Or as someone else succinctly put it …
Dunno what's weirder, standing in a queue to look at a coffin with a flag on it or me watching people standing in a queue on television. #QueueForTheQueen
— Eli Swift (@EliSwft) September 14, 2022
The line is being lightly marshalled on the understanding that, like queues for tickets at Wimbledon or the front row standing spaces at a major concert, it will be broadly self-policing in terms of allowing people to nip out to answer the call of nature or stretch their legs.
However, one helpful south London resident has augmented the official map to illustrate where you could pop off for a crafty pint.
As a south-of-the-river person, I hereby gift everyone in the queue for the Queen's lying in state a map of all the decent pubs en route (or very close to it) pic.twitter.com/V2CtVh5pnY
— Lizzie Dearden (@lizziedearden) September 14, 2022
There was gallows humour about the prospective length of the reign of the new King Charles III, who at 73 is the oldest person ever to ascend to the British throne.
The Queen's coffin queue now stretches so far that the people at the end will get to see Charles' coffin instead
— Nick Casmirri (@ncasmirri) September 15, 2022
There were questions about why the queue hasn’t got its own name.
How has no one called the queue the Elizabeth Line
— Danielle Blake 🇺🇦 (@abradacabla) September 14, 2022
Brian Bilston, as is often the case, had a humorous piece of poetry for the occasion.
Here’s a poem called ‘The Queue’. pic.twitter.com/4XTbGmHTiu
— Brian Bilston (@brian_bilston) September 15, 2022
Bilston’s argument that people would join a queue regardless of whether they knew what it was for was borne out by the scenes on the Embankment prompting one anecdote of a very different queue to be shared.
If you're wondering how much we like queuing, my nan once saw a queue in Wigan and got in it with no clue what it was for. Half an hour later she walked away with Emlyn Hughes's autograph on a piece of paper, having no idea who he was.
— David M Barnett (@davidmbarnett) September 15, 2022
At least those queueing in London know what they are in for. But the more people thought about the queue, the more they began to ponder the very nature of the word itself.
Queue is such a great word. The actual important letter, and then four more silently waiting behind it in a line.
— Ben Rathe (@benrathe) September 14, 2022
People made various guesses as to where the queue might finally end. Swindon was posited by the comedian Dom Joly.
Just reached the end of the queue to file past the Queen. Everybody quite relaxed… pic.twitter.com/lTJ4DbM35n
— Dom Joly (@domjoly) September 14, 2022
Others – regardless of whether the new prime minister, Liz Truss, is open-minded about whether Emmanuel Macron is a friend or foe – thought Paris was doing its bit to help out.
Sacre bleu, they massively underestimated how long this queue was going to be... #TheQueue #WestminsterHall #QueueForTheQueen pic.twitter.com/3yMFI3MbD9
— Ged Robinson - слава Україні 🇺🇦 (@GedRobinson) September 14, 2022
Some even suggested that the queue had grown so long, it had gained the ability to manipulate time itself.
Wow, the #QueueForTheQueen now stretches all the way back to when Pierce Brosnan was James Bond. pic.twitter.com/99M8BM2Izb
— The Bubbles Tickle My Tchaikovsky (@TheTchaikovsky) September 15, 2022
There was nothing more meta than the fact that there was also a queue of journalists patiently waiting to interview the people patiently waiting in the queue to see the Queen.
Are you ready for the most British of British things ever? 🇬🇧
— Rachael Venables (@rachaelvenables) September 13, 2022
This is the Queue of journalists waiting to interview the Queuers, who are already lining up in the rain 24 hours early to see the Queen lying in state. pic.twitter.com/dm27baGQQy
And there was speculation that maybe by the end of the week every single person in the queue would have appeared on television themselves.
Waiting Time for members of the public to be interviewed Live on national television is now down to 47 seconds.. #QueueForTheQueen pic.twitter.com/8DRErk25WJ
— Trevor Beattie (@trevorbmbagency) September 15, 2022
Still, everybody involved will have the satisfaction of knowing that they fully completed the game of being British.
If you’re British, this is the queue you’ve been training for all your life. The final boss of queues. pic.twitter.com/5auXopBfOr
— Jof (@JofArnold) September 13, 2022
And gained an anecdote to tell when it is just the right moment to try to impress someone.
Yeah well I joined the queue at Tower bridge and was in it for 17 hours..... pic.twitter.com/i9MxjTVQ1k
— @jeffprad💙💛 (@jeffprad1) September 15, 2022
But maybe the whole thing is unnecessary?
Hang on - why don’t they just drive the Queen down the length of the five mile queue? Job done and everyone can go home. #QueueForTheQueen
— Ross Gaines (@WTWIWF2) September 14, 2022
