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14th Sep 2022

Nearly half of British people say they cried over the Queen’s death

Tobi Akingbade

It’s broken a lot of people

Any death is sad, but it seems there is a sense of collective grief during the UK’s national mourning as a YouGov poll said 44% of respondents said they had cried or shed a tear since her death.

Queen Elizabeth II died on last Thursday in her holiday home at Balmoral, in the Scottish Highlands, at the age of 96 after a 70-year reign, plunging Britain into an official mourning period even as it faces an economic crisis and a change of government.

The survey polled over 3,200 British adults found and can be reflection over the thousands who have the lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the Queen’s coffin as it made its journey from Balmoral to her home in Buckingham palace.

This comes after a woman made headlines after deciding to pay her respects to the Queen by visiting her casket eight times in less than 24 hours.

Elizabeth Sabey decided that one time was not enough for her, and so kept going back round to walk past the coffin as it rested in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: People gather in tribute as the cortege with the hearse carrying the coffin of the late Queen Elizabeth II, draped with the Royal Standard of Scotland, passes down the Royal Mile, Edinburgh, on the journey from Balmoral to the Palace of Holyroodhouse on September 11, 2022 in Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in Bruton Street, Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. She married Prince Philip in 1947 and ascended the throne of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on 6 February 1952 after the death of her Father, King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Andrew O'Brien/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The 43-year-old said she had been inspired by Her Majesty’s strong Christian faith and sense of duty to God.

After arriving at 5pm to queue, she spent all night waiting to visit the casket for the first time.

But as morning arrived, the queue got shorter and shorter, so she decided to keep going round.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Tuesday morning as she waited for her eighth casket-viewing experience, she said that staff kept “letting her through” on the wristband she was given on her first circuit.

She said she was planning to go as many times as she could before the coffin left Edinburgh for London on Tuesday.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: The coffin carrying Queen Elizabeth II proceeds down The Royal Mile towards Holyroodhouse on September 11, 2022 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was born in Bruton Street, Mayfair, London on 21 April 1926. She married Prince Philip in 1947 and ascended the throne of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth on 6 February 1952 after the death of her Father, King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on September 8, 2022, and is succeeded by her eldest son, King Charles III. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)

She told the Telegraph: “I’ve just been upright but actually I flopped over loads of times and I had to have people every so often wake me up.”

“Especially on the second and third times I flopped over and I literally did go to sleep and then I had people in the queue that were like my little family members that I’d made.”

She added: “It’s a once in a lifetime experience, and when you go round just once it’s like you just want to remember.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she passed away in Scotland, it was all, I feel, divinely orchestrated…I just think that’s how it’s meant to be.”

It’s not a rollercoaster ride love …

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