David Beckham long ago proved his endurance on the pitch. Now he's showing he can make it for the long haul while queuing up for the late Queen Elizabeth II, whom the soccer legend came to see lying in state in London on Friday. USA Today reports that the 47-year-old was among the hundreds of thousands of people who trudged along in line for at least 12 hours on Friday to catch a glimpse of the monarch in Westminster Hall, ahead of her Monday funeral. Beckham, decked out in coat, tie, and hat, took his place in the queue before the sun came up, hoping to beat the crowds.
"I thought by coming at 2am [local time] it was going to be a little bit quieter," he told reporters. "I was wrong. Everybody had that in mind." Beckham called the day "difficult for the nation," and for the world, but he said that he and others in line had also been "celebrating and telling stories," as well as noshing on sandwiches, doughnuts, and Pringles. "We all want to be here together, we all want to experience something where we celebrate the amazing life of our queen," he said.
Reuters has more footage of Beckham winding his way through the "queuing infrastructure" with all others who came to pay their respects, and some of the noncelebrity bystanders in line with him gave him props for coming out. "Big respect to him," one woman queued up behind him told a reporter. "He stood with us, and he's paid his respects how he wants to. And I think that's amazing." (More David Beckham stories.)
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