London during the Queen's Funeral

Our trip to England was planned over the summer. It just so happened that Queen Elizabeth II passed the week before we flew in. As a result, the funeral happened in the middle of our weeklong trip.

We didn't know what to expect on the day or how things would play out. All we knew was that it would be a bank holiday, everything would be closed, and the city was going to be a mess of people, roadblocks, etc. 

Because there was nothing else for us to be able to do, and it was kind of a big deal to be there during that time, we decided we might as well get up early and join in on the chaos. We left our hotel about 6am and took the metro into downtown London. 

We got off right near Buckingham Palace and were immediately directed along a narrow path lined with barriers and security and event workers. The park leading up to the palace was blocked off. 

Everything around the palace was blocked off for media. So much media from around the world. They directed people to line up along the roads and wait. But for what we didn't know. It was only 7 am, the funeral wasn't until 11am, and we were not sure we wanted to stand around the area for the next 4 hours.

We found our way back out of this area and walked further on up the roads trying to see if we could find some other routes to walk along. Everywhere we wanted to go was blocked off to all traffic, including pedestrians. 

We walked through piccadilly circus, Trafalgar square, all full of barriers and security directing traffic in the opposite direction we were going. 

Occasionally we would stop and ask a security person what was going on, but even they didn't seem to know. All they knew was they were directing traffic, but their directions were changing hourly.

It was still early morning, so we just kept walking not wanting to follow the lines of people. We ended up walking across the bridge to the other part of town and wandered along the river. 

Not many people were out, but it was chilly along the way. We enjoyed the views as we walked past the London Eye and got some more great shots of Parliament and Big Ben from this side of town. 

They even had a wall along the river dedicated to those who passed away during Covid. It was a beautiful tribute, and also really sad.

We walked across the bridge headed to the parliament building and of course discovered more roadblocks. 

We continued to walk, seeing all the roadblocks, and got to an area where we were stuck at being shooed with the crowd through the blockades in a certain direction. There were some more security people so we stopped to chat with them about what was happening.

They told us everyone was being directed to the Mall (which is all the roads leading up to Buckingham Palace) so they could camp out and wait. But for what? That's when they told us that after the funeral there would be a big procession along the Mall and that's where you wanted to be. I asked if it was worth it. Would we really be able to see anything, or would we be better off sitting in a pub watching it on TV? They assured us that no, we would be able to see things, and it is definitely where we wanted to be.

 It was where they would rather be so they could see all the stuff, but as they were working they weren't going to see anything. They explained everything would start at noon after the funeral was over.

This was helpful information, as we didn't know what was going to happen. We finally joined the crowd in the barriers and followed them to the Mall. Which was basically where we had first started in the morning. Oh well. We found a place to stand and wait about 10am, so the rest of it was just waiting. 

There were tons of people everywhere. They had a lot of portaloos set up so that was a nice option, and for the most part people were friendly. I chatted with some lovely English ladies who came to London for the events. They too had no idea what to expect, but this was a big deal and they decided why not. 

At 11am the funeral started. They broadcast the audio of it live through the load speakers along the streets. I did enjoy listening to it. While the funeral was going on, we watched the Queen's guards marching up along the roads getting themselves in place for whatever was going to happen next. Once the funeral was over, things happened rather quickly. We heard it before we saw it.

After the funeral the parade began. All the different military uniforms, military bands, dignitaries, etc. came through the roads and past all of us onlookers. 

It was very interesting and exciting to be there. What I didn't realize was that the Queen would be part of this procession. 

But sure enough, towards the end of the line came the queen. The crowd went silent as her coffin passed and people through flowers into the street as it did. I found it very moving and even got a bit emotional. 

This was the end of a big era for all of these people. 

Once it was over the crowds dispersed rather quickly. We decided to walk a bit beyond where we were to avoid the massive crowds and the nearest Tube stations. We found a pub and decided to stop and sit for a bit and eat some lunch. We were starving by this point. It filled up not long after we got there, and I was glad we were able to get a table. We watched the rest of the funeral events on the giant television while we ate.

We thought by this point the crowds would be more manageable and we could head back to the hotel. What we did not anticipate is that they had blocked off all of the bridges leading to the other side of town. We were told it was for security reasons, and they had no idea when they'd open up the bridges. They directed us back to the busy Tube stations.

We got back to our hotel eventually and crashed for an early night. It had been a very long day, and I think in total we walked close to 12 miles. I'm glad we went and got to participate.