Former Ealing Council leader Julian Bell and his daughter Christiana joined with hundreds of thousands of people last night (16 September 2022) who travelled into central London to pay their respect to Queen Elizabeth II and joined the queues to see The Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall.
He tweeted the journey, which started at 7pm on Friday, in which daughter Christiana Bell joined him and was completed at 7.30am this morning (17 September 2022).
EALING.NEWS spoke to Mr Bell, who was leader of Ealing Council for 10 years and also represented Greenford Broadway ward about his journey and experience of being at Westminster Hall.
What time did you start your journey to get there and who did you go with?
I went with my youngest adult daughter Christiana Bell
How long did you have to wait?
12.5 hours – 7pm Friday to 7:30am Saturday.
What was it like?
The queuing was very tough as it got very cold in the middle of the night. We met some wonderful people to keep our spirits up and share the experience with though. Check my twitter feed for more comments. I also did a Times Radio interview with my daughter at 8:10 am this morning.
What did The Queen mean to you?
I am not a natural royalist but over the years the Queen won me over and I have come to appreciate and value our system of constitutional monarchy.
Why was it important for you go there?
My daughter worked for the Queen and the Royal Family for 5 years and helped organise two royal weddings and significant royal parties and celebrations and met The Queen on a number of occasions. I wanted to support my daughter who felt the loss of the Queen personally. For me I wanted to pay my own personal respects to a great Queen and the only monarch I have known and to witness first hand history in the making.
 who travelled into central London to pay their respect to Queen Elizabeth II and joined the queues to see The Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall. ){kind=link}