A Bury councillor has described his “humbling experience” of queueing for 14 hours to pay his respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II.

North Manor councillor, Liam James Dean, was amongst the estimated 250,000-plus people who queued to pay their final respects to the country's longest-ever reigning monarch in the space of four days.

He joined the line to see the Queen lying in state at Westminster Hall just before midnight on a trip with his partner on Thursday, September 15.

Cllr Dean said: “I’ve always been a loyal monarchist and have always respected and admired the dedication to duty from Her Majesty.

“After her years of service to us, we felt the least we could do was travel to pay our final respects in person.”

 “We joined the queue just before midnight with thousands of others – all of us knowing we were in for the long haul. It was quite a surreal experience, queuing through central London all night.”

Cllr Dean, shadow cabinet member for culture and the economy at the council, said it was a “humbling experience” that will “stay with me for the rest of my life".

He described the mood throughout the night as “respectful, but friendly and upbeat".

Bury Times: Queue to see the queen lying-in-stateQueue to see the queen lying-in-state (Image: Public)

Cllr Dean said: “It needed to be, the temperature dropped through the night, and the wind was quite unpleasant at times – we were all there to pay our respects, and everyone came together to keep each other’s spirits up.

“A stiff upper lip – bulldog spirit – and wanting to pay our tribute to a lady who gave so much – that’s what kept us all going.

“At just before 2pm on the Friday we arrived in Westminster Hall which was silent, you could hear a pin drop.

“We each got to pay our respects individually, which was quite surreal. Standing in front of Her Majesty, everything and everyone faded out, and you were blessed with what felt like a very personal and private moment to say Thank You.”

In Westminster Hall, the Queen’s coffin was rested on a raised platform and each corner of the platform was guarded around the clock by units from the Sovereign’s dodyguard and foot guards or the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

Cllr Dean said he bowed twice to Her Majesty, once on behalf of himself – his own personal mark of thanks and respect - and once on behalf of those who could not be there in person but asked him to pay their respects too.

He added: “We have lost a dedicated public servant, a mother and grandmother to the nation, an example to us all.

"We may never see her kind again, but we will never forget her.

"May she rest in peace as we come together, as she would’ve wanted, to say God Save The King.”

Members of the public in Bury can also still sign the online book of condolence here. 

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