Becky had the honour of working on Operation FEATHER in September 2022.
Working in the Event Control for 6 days Becky helped manage the queue for the Queen Elizabeth II’s lying-in-state. At least 250,000 people joined the huge line over four days to pay their respects to the Queen in London’s Westminster Hall at Parliament. It was a collective show of camaraderie, endurance and the art of British queuing.
It was an intense and sometimes emotional experience, one that Becky was very grateful to have the opportunity to participate in.
“It’s rather like a pilgrimage. Research in recent years has looked at other similar phenomena, such as the Hajj in Mecca, where people will stand for long hours in the sun or other harsh weather, even when they’re elderly. They endure it because this is how they enact their values and identities. This is how they express them.”
Sussex psychologist Professor John Drury advised the UK government on what to expect during the Queen’s funeral and lying-in-state
