A family from Orkney spent £2,100 and travelled 10 hours to London to camp out from 3am so they could watch the Queen’s funeral.
They left Kirkwall Airport at 10.30am on Saturday, before having a long wait in Aberdeen Airport, then arriving at Heathrow for 8.30pm.
Joanna Sutherland made the journey with her parents Paul and Shirley Davies.
The 34-year-old dance teacher said: “It normally doesn’t take quite that long to get to London, but we booked our flights last minute and most of them were full.
“But we have always followed the royal family and we love history. I’ve got books on all the kings and queens, so I think we realised the significance of this moment.
“We wanted to be part of part of history and be there in person to witness it with our own eyes.”
The family walked through the funeral procession route themselves on Sunday afternoon to plan their route.
However, they noticed that it was already getting busy with people pitching tents and sitting in chairs – almost 24 hours before the state funeral at Westminster Abbey.
An estimated one million people flocked to the capital for the event.
They decided to go to bed early in one of the only hotels with space, and got up at 3am to secure seats next to the barrier at the very top of The Mall, opposite Buckingham Palace
From there they could see the parade coming up, then going around the Queen Victoria memorial, and up Constitution Hill.
Mrs Sutherland added: “We had the perfect view.”
Before the procession marched down The Mall, the service in Westminster Abbey was broadcast over a tannoy to the waiting crowd.
‘You could have heard a pin drop’
Mrs Sutherland said: “I think what set everybody off was when they said the Lord’s Prayer.
“Everybody on The Mall also recited the Lord’s Prayer and it was very moving. Quite a lot of people started to cry.
“And when the coffin appeared, it was just silence. Although there were several thousands of people there, you could have heard a pin drop.”
People also gathered in the north-east to watch the funeral at British Legion pubs and community cinemas.
It is estimated billions of people around the world tuned-in to at least some of the ceremony.
Not the only Orkney traveller
Despite the expense of the two-day trip and the long journey, the family are glad they went.
Mrs Sutherland said: “We would have probably done whatever we had to do to get there.
“We wanted to soak up the atmosphere and wouldn’t have missed it. It was definitely worth it.”
However, the family were not the only ones to make a long-distance journey.
Tracey Hannam, 55, a grandmother of eight who lives in Bath, also joined those lining The Mall.
She travelled from Orkney where she was on a fundraising walk for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) charity.
She told the Daily Mail: “I’ve walked 5,700 miles since July 2020. I was at North Ronaldsay island and jumped in an eight-seater aeroplane. I got to Kirkwall then got a ferry to Aberdeen and took a 12-hour bus ride to London.
“The Queen was patron of the RNLI and I’ve tied an RNLI flag to the barrier on The Mall.
“It’s unbelievable here – the human kindness and camaraderie.”
Conversation