Former England captain and Inter Miami co-owner David Beckham joined thousands waiting in line to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state on Friday, queuing for more than 13 hours to pay his respects to the long-serving monarch.
Beckham, 47, was spotted in the huge queue which has formed on the streets of London as mourners look to get a final glimpse of the queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall before her funeral on Monday.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder said he had been queuing since around 2.15 a.m. BST when he was interviewed by news crews on Friday afternoon.
He talked of snacking on crisps, sweets and donuts with his fellow queuers to keep their energy up.
Television footage of Westminster Hall showed Beckham, who met the queen several times during her 70-year reign, looking tearful as he waited to file past her coffin.
Stopping to pay his respects by the coffin at around 3.25 p.m. BST, Beckham bowed his head and closed his eyes momentarily.
Beckham received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to football from the queen in 2003, and he spoke of his pride at singing “God Save The Queen” before matches with England.
David Beckham has been queuing for 12 hours to pay his respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II 🙏
(via @BBCVickiYoung)pic.twitter.com/xTvpJxB4kz
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) September 16, 2022
“I grew up in a household of royalists and I was brought up that way so if my grandparents [had] been here today, I know that they would have wanted to be here so I am here on their behalf and on behalf of my family and obviously to celebrate with everybody else here,” Beckham told ITV News.
“The amount of times that I was able to meet her through my career and I was very lucky… to represent my country, to be captain of my country.
“Every time we stood there and we wore those Three Lions shirts and I had my armband and we sang ‘God Save Our Queen,’ that was something that meant so much to us and every time that we did it, it was something special.
“Probably the most special moment for me was when I received my OBE, and to receive my OBE… To step up, to get my honour, but then also her majesty to ask a question and to talk, I was so lucky that I was able to have a few moments like that in my life.”
Beckham made 115 appearances for England from 1996 to 2009 and scored 17 goals for his country, appearing at three World Cup tournaments.
He won six Premier League titles and the Champions League among multiple honours during a glittering career in which he played for United, Madrid, LA Galaxy, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain before retiring in 2013.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.