Andrew Marr: Palace of Westminster is an 'entirely different place' as mourners pay respects to Queen in 'utter silence'
15 September 2022, 18:13
The "reclaimed" Palace of Westminster is an "entirely different place" as mourners pay their respects to the Queen in "utter silence", Andrew Marr has said.
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Opening LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr, the presenter revealed that he visited Westminster Hall to see the Queen lying in state.
"I was in Westminster Hall watching the solemn vigil around the Queen's coffin and watching, just as intently, the people filing past," Andrew said.
"Utter silence.
"I don't remember ever being in a room - well it's a vast hall, not a room - with quite so many people making quite so little noise.
"Not a single audible voice. Not a single smartphone.
"Who were they? They were all of us… every colour, every age, some in jeans and sweatshirts, some in morning coats with military decorations, people on crutches, people in wheelchairs, people smiling, crossing themselves, weeping.
"I'm glad I went."
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'Not a single audible voice, not a single smartphone'
Andrew continued: "One of my my colleagues pointed out that we talk endlessly about the palace of Westminster but it's hardly ever, really, a Palace.
"It's a great, sprawling jigsaw of political architecture running from the 11th century to just a couple of years ago - a maze of libraries, coffee bars, restaurants and meeting rooms, a tangle of computer systems and heated conversations - but never, not really, a Palace. Until today.
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"Reclaimed by Beefeaters and Grenadier guardsman, the dead Queen and the Royal Standard, it felt an entirely different place.
"But life, of course, goes on.
"The King spent today at his own Highgrove home in Gloucestershire for some much needed rest and contemplation.
"I'm going to try to find out a bit more more about the man who is Charles III, with Mark Leishman who was his Private Secretary for many years."
