#Bidens #amongst #hundreds #paying #respects #Queen #Elizabeth #US News Network
By MIKE CORDER, JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA
LONDON (AP) — U.S. President Joe Biden paid his respects at Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin on Sunday as hundreds of police, lots of of British troops and a military of officers made remaining preparations for the queen’s state funeral — a spectacular show of nationwide mourning that may even be the most important gathering of world leaders for years.
Biden and first girl Jill Biden have been amongst hundreds of mourners — from locals and vacationers to royals and world leaders — to pay their respects at Westminster Corridor, the place the queen is mendacity in state. The president made the signal of the cross and put his hand to his coronary heart as he stood quietly close to the casket within the ornate 900-year-old corridor along with his spouse and U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley.
Biden then signed the official condolence e book and attended a reception Sunday at Buckingham Palace hosted by King Charles III. He’s one in every of 500 world leaders and royals invited to the queen’s state funeral Monday at Westminster Abbey, together with lots of of British charity staff.
Biden referred to as Queen Elizabeth II “decent” and “honorable” and “all about service” as he signed the condolence e book, saying his coronary heart went out to the royal household.
“Queen Elizabeth lived her life for the people,” Jill Biden wrote in a e book for spouses and ambassadors. “She served with wisdom and grace. We will never forget her warmth, kindness and the conversations we shared.”
Because the dignitaries poured in, the clock was ticking down for these searching for a spot within the longest queue many have ever seen to file previous the queen’s coffin. The miles-long queue is anticipated to be closed to new arrivals later Sunday so that everybody now within the line can view the coffin earlier than Monday morning, when it will likely be taken to Westminster Abbey for the queen’s funeral.
Household by household, hundreds of individuals saved becoming a member of the road across the clock, braving chilly in a single day temperatures and waits of as much as 17 hours in a queue that stretched for over 5 miles (8 kilometers).
Lauren Wilson, a 36-year-old scholar, was within the a lot shorter queue for folks with mobility points. She stated she needed to expertise in individual the coffin mendacity in state.
“The world is in such a weird place and then this happened. It feels more momentous,” she stated.
She apprehensive that the pageantry surrounding Elizabeth’s loss of life deprives the queen’s family of the flexibility to come back to phrases with their loss.
“The family are not allowed to grieve. I find it quite heartbreaking,” she stated.
The queen’s eight grandchildren, led by inheritor to the throne Prince William, circled the coffin and stood with their heads bowed throughout a silent vigil on Saturday night.
Among the many international leaders in London was New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who instructed the BBC she was humbled to signify her nation on the funeral and to witness the nationwide outpouring of grief and respect for the late queen.
“The thing that I will take away from this period is just the beauty of the public’s response, the kindness that you see from members of the public, the patience, the camaraderie. That has been, for me, the most moving tribute of all, has been the public response of the British people,” she stated.
Folks throughout the U.Okay. may even pause Sunday night for a nationwide minute of silence to recollect the queen, who died Sept. 8 at 96 after 70 years on the throne. Monday has been declared a public vacation, and the funeral will probably be broadcast to an enormous tv viewers worldwide and screened to crowds in parks and public areas throughout the nation.
Cops from across the nation will probably be on obligation as a part of the most important one-day policing operation in London’s historical past.
Crowds additionally gathered Sunday close to Windsor Fortress, the place the queen will probably be laid to relaxation at a non-public household ceremony on Monday night.
Steve Beeson got here along with his household of three and a bouquet of flowers he had bought for the queen.
“She has been a constant steadying of the reins for the country through all of these really rough times, the least we can do is come and say ‘Thank you,’” he stated.
Camilla, the queen consort, paid tribute to her mother-in-law in a video message, saying the monarch “carved her own role” as a “solitary woman” on a world stage dominated by males.
“I will always remember her smile. That smile is unforgettable,” stated Camilla, who’s married to Charles.
Ukraine’s first girl, Olena Zelenska, was additionally amongst mourners paying respects to the queen’s coffin. British royal officers stated Zelenska met with Catherine, the Princess of Wales, at Buckingham Palace on Sunday afternoon. They didn’t launch additional particulars. The British authorities has been among the many strongest supporters of Ukraine because it was invaded by Russia in February.
On Saturday night time, it was the grandchildren’s time to mourn. William and Prince Harry, Charles’ sons, have been joined by Princess Anne’s kids, Zara Tindall and Peter Philips; Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and Prince Edward’s two kids — Woman Louise Windsor and James, Viscount Severn.
William stood along with his head bowed on the head of the coffin and Harry on the foot. Each princes, who’re navy veterans, have been in uniform. The group saved slowly, silently submitting previous.
“You could see that they were thinking hard about their grandmother, the queen,” stated Ian Mockett, a civil engineer from Oxford in southern England. “It was good to see them all together as a set of grandchildren, given the things that have happened over the last few years.”
The lying-in-state continues till early Monday morning, when the queen’s coffin will probably be moved on a gun carriage pulled by 142 Royal Navy sailors to close by Westminster Abbey for the funeral, the finale of 10 days of nationwide mourning for Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.
After the service Monday on the abbey, the late queen’s coffin will probably be transported by way of the historic coronary heart of London on the state gun carriage. It can then be taken in a hearse to Windsor, the place the queen will probably be interred alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died final yr at 99.
Sumita Tanda put down shiny purple roses as an enormous floral tribute bloomed close to Windsor Fortress.
“I feel so privileged to be a local resident of Windsor,” she stated. “I just wanted to pay my respects.”
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Comply with AP protection of Queen Elizabeth II at
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