Former English soccer star David Beckham waited in line to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state on Friday. In fact, Beckham waited in the queue for more than 13 hours in order to pay his respects to the monarch, who died last week at the age of 96.
The 47-year old was seen waiting in the queue with thousands of people that lined the streets of London. The former Premier league icon was spotted by news crews and stated that he began waiting around 2:15 a.m. BST to get his final glimpse of the Queen prior to her funeral on Monday.
David Beckham waited 13 hours in the queue at Westminster Hall to pay his respects to Queen Elizabeth II. pic.twitter.com/x9fXUvhksk
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) September 16, 2022
"I grew up in a household of royalists and I was brought up that way so if my grandparents [had] been here today, I know that they would have wanted to be here so I am here on their behalf and on behalf of my family and obviously to celebrate with everybody else here," Beckham told ITV News.
"The amount of times that I was able to meet her through my career and I was very lucky... to represent my country, to be captain of my country."
Beckham was finally able to get up to see Queen Elizabeth II's coffin around 3:25 p.m. BST. The soccer star looked very somber as he bowed his head in a moment of reflection.
The former England captain was fortunate enough to meet the Queen on multiple occasions. Beckham received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) from the Queen in 2003 for his contributions to soccer.
Beckham made 115 appearances for the English national team from 1996 until 2009. During that time, Beckham scored 17 goals while competing in three World Cups. Beckham also played for Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, and the LA Galaxy before announcing his retirement from the sport in 2013.
