Technology
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The queue to see Queen Elizabeth II's coffin lying in state at the Palace of Westminster ahead of her funeral today was so large it could be seen from space. "The Queue" as it has been dubbed, which saw people waiting up to 24 hours for their mourning slot, was around 16 kilometers (10 miles) at its maximum length.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.High-resolution satellite images released by Maxar Technologies show the extent of The Queue, further reinforcing years of stereotypes of Brits absolutely loving a queue.
#BuckinghamPalace. The view collected by our WorldView-3 #satellite shows part of the route of the Queen’s funeral procession to be held on September 19. pic.twitter.com/tgXmDmyD4B— Maxar Technologies (@Maxar)
As the Queen's heavy lead coffin has arrived at Westminster Abbey for the state funeral and King Charles III prepares to sit on the stone of destiny, the queue has finally dispersed. One of the last two people to be allowed to pay their respects described the experience as "the best thing I've ever done in my life, even having my children Lily and Luca."
Impressive as the scale of the queue is, it should be noted that with a good enough camera pretty much everything can be seen from space, from the destruction of the Arecibo Telescope to convoys approaching Kyiv. It was still, nevertheless, gigantic.
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