Sylvie Claire / September 20, 2022
More than 250,000 people waited for hours, lining up for several miles, to visit the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in the days before her funeral in London, the British government said Tuesday.
Before a grand state funeral in London on Monday, followed by a private burial in the chapel of Windsor Castle, the coffin of the sovereign who died on September 8 at 96 years old, including 70 years of reign, was on display day and night for five days to the public in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of Parliament.
More than 250,000 (people) have passed through Parliament, so it's an approximate figure at the moment," said Culture Minister Michelle Donelan on Sky News.
Asked about the cost of the funeral to the taxpayer, she said she did not know, but said she thought the British people would consider it "money well spent.
"We saw thousands of people" come to the funeral "and I don't think anyone can suggest that our late monarch didn't deserve this farewell, given the duty and selfless service to which she was committed for over 70 years," she added.
I have always seen our late monarch as the glue that brought our society together," she said.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom resumed the course of its life which had been suspended for 12 days by the emotion and the commemorations linked to Elizabeth II.
If the sovereign still dominates the front page of the British press on Tuesday, the cost of living crisis and social movements should quickly return to the forefront.