Royal fans camped in front of Buckingham Palace on Wednesday night in hopes of getting a good spot to see Queen Elizabeth II, who was expected to attend the jubilee celebrations. Some fans brought tents and sleeping bags. Others said they could settle for chairs or just not sleep at all.
Mary Foster, 46, a Canadian who runs her own business, said the secret to camping was to bring a “good friend to help pass the time” and “extra blankets and lots of Prosecco.” He also brought a tent, which he covered with a maple leaf.
Alison Walton, 55, who works as a warehouse worker at a garden center, was camping with a group of eight friends, not her family, “they think I’m crazy.” It was my first time attending a jubilee or something. He calculated that with Prince Charles, 73, and Prince William, 39, it was unlikely that there would be another platinum jubilee for a long time.
“I will never see this story again. I don’t think our children’s children will see it,” he said of a monarch who has been on the throne for 70 years. “She is a worthy lady who gave everything in her country.”