Respect

Awoke this morning to find that the queues to see the Queen lying at rest in St Giles had calmed down significantly from the predicted ten-hour wait that was being talked about last night. Or maybe the waiting times were just being more accurately described. L's MoonWalk buddy H had decided in the middle of the night that she would go and even with a trip into the city centre from SQ it was all done in a few hours. L decided she would like to go and I thought that it would be interesting to go along too. We drove the car some of the way and parked in The Grange, outside the CPZs, and then walked up to The Meadows. The queue-for-the-queue reached almost to the play park at the eastern end of the park, which didn't seem too bad compared to some of the things I had seen yesterday evening. Maybe half an hour later we got our wristbands and joined the queue proper which snaked its way through George Square, Bristo Square, through the underpass and down onto Chambers Street and then along George IV Bridge. Our old stomping grounds when we used to live on Forrest Road. This picture is in the queue on George IV Bridge, approaching the 'media zone'. (When we got home I discovered an image from a PA press photographer to illustrate the story about the closing of the queue was taken just as we walked up the street and I am almost perfectly captured in the middle of the frame!) Through the security checks and round into Parliament Square - "phones off and keep them in your pocket" - and then up the ramp that we saw them carry the coffin up yesterday on TV. No time to linger inside but a powerful stillness as we passed the flag-draped coffin with the Crown of Scotland on top of it. In no way would I say I was a royalist - if asked, I'd vote for an independent Scottish republic - but I was pleased that L suggested we went. The Queen has been a constant in our lives and whatever I feel about the institution of the monarchy I have respect for her personal role, her sense of duty and commitment. The sense of history - no doubt all part of the establishment playbook that keeps us from becoming a fairer, more just society - felt strong and being there in person felt significant.