A pupil support assistant from Aberdeenshire said he was “glad” to have gone to Edinburgh to say farewell to the Queen.
Simon Forbes, who travelled to Edinburgh in shorts and flip flops, said in spite of the cold weather and a “nightmare” train trip back home, he wanted to be part of history.
Mr Forbes, who lives in Belhelvie and works at Broomhill School in Aberdeen, made the trip to the Scottish capital witnessing a “moment in time”, after seeing the Queen’s hearse go through Holburn Street on Sunday.
Arriving at Edinburgh Waverley station at 1.30pm on Monday, he managed to find a spot on the Royal Mile, about 100 yards from St Giles’ Cathedral.
Mr Forbes said: “By that time it was just absolutely packed, so I was standing on my tip toes trying to like look over people’s heads and getting the camera zooming in as best as I could.”
‘Left it too late’
He managed to see the flag on top of Her Majesty’s coffin, but said he “left it too late” to see the Royal Family walk past.
Despite this, he really wanted to go to St Giles’ Cathedral to see the Queen’s coffin and made his way to the Meadows to wait, arriving there at 4.05pm.
When he arrived at the park, he remembers thinking “oh my God the queue is mental already”.
He said: “The amount of people in the Meadows, I had never seen it like that, it was just like a snake effect zig zagging across.
Reminded of Wimbledon
“It kind of reminded me of when you see people at Wimbledon queuing to get in.”
He waited five hours to get into the church, entering at 9.05pm.
Mr Forbes said the atmosphere was worth it, he said: “You’re chatting to folk, you’re having laughs and making jokes and discussing what the Queen meant to you and everyone.
“We all made the best of it.”
When he got into the cathedral to see Her Majesty’s coffin, he said the five minutes he spent in the cathedral were “super quiet” and “super respectful”.
He took his cap off as a mark of respect.
Felt ‘a bit miserable’
At 9.31pm, he was back at Waverley to get his train back to Aberdeen, however, the trip back north did not go to plan.
He was delayed in Edinburgh due to a train breaking down, and then needed to get a replacement bus at Dundee.
It was a “nightmare” journey back to the north-east for Mr Forbes.
He said he was “a bit miserable” when he first got in the train due to being cold and not eaten in a long time.
However, after getting home at 3.55am, he was meant to get back to Aberdeen at 12.09am, and reflecting on the day’s events, he said: “The minute I got home, I though, I am glad that I did it and felt part of it.”
