'I wanted to show my gratitude': Wolverhampton councillor attends Queen's procession

The Queen's coffin, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown placed on top, left Buckingham Palace carried on a horse-drawn gun carriage for Westminster Hall on Wednesday.

Bushbury North councillor Simon Bennett took the decision to head down from Wolverhampton to witness the piece of history for himself.

When the news broke of the Queen's death, Councillor Bennett began looking at possible dates he could make his way to London.

"I booked the time off for Wednesday and sorted train tickets right away," he said.

"We travelled from Wolverhampton and the train was very busy, fully booked I would say.

"When we got to London it wasn’t that busy though, from Euston to Charing Cross."

Councillor Bennett added: "We wanted to see the procession of the coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall.

"We initially found a space but people were already there, then we noticed another area, which ended up being where they do the changing of the guard."

The late monarch is currently lying in state at Westminster Hall, which will come to an end on Monday morning before her coffin is transported to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral service.

Councillor Bennett had found a spot to wait near Horse Guards Parade and was there for some five hours.

"We had our spot and you started to get to know people around you as time went on," he said.

"They were asking where you were from, what brought you down, things like that.

"People were in good spirits, everyone was restful, with people saving spaces for others. Everyone was there for the right reasons."

He said: "At 2.22pm, when the first gun salute went off, then there was perfect silence.

"From that time, bearing in mind we were half a mile away from Buckingham Palace, it was complete silence, which lasted around 30 minutes, everyone respected the moment."

The procession passed where Councillor Bennett waited at around 2.45pm, a moment he felt was important to witness.

"It was a no-brainer for me really as a royalist, I was always going to go," he said.

"The sense of celebrating her life of service.

"As a councillor myself, it felt important to recognise the role and work she has done as a public servant.

"And I wanted to show my gratitude personally for everything she gave to this country and the dedication she showed.

"She was the monarch for 70 years, so has seen pretty much everything a world leader could see."