Former England soccer captain Beckham queues to see Queen Elizabeth's coffin - CNA

LONDON: Former England soccer captain David Beckham queued for more than 13 hours alongside thousands of other mourners to see Queen Elizabeth lying in state in London on Friday (Sep 16).

The 47-year-old former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder and current co-owner of American Major League Soccer team Inter Miami, said he had joined the queue at 0115 GMT (Thursday, 9.15pm, Singapore time).

"We all want to be here together, we all want to experience something where we celebrate the amazing life of our queen. Something like this today is meant to be shared together", Beckham, who was wearing a dark flat cap and a dark suit with a black tie and appeared to be alone, told reporters in the queue.

He talked of snacking on crisps, sweets and donuts with his fellow queuers to keep their energy up.

Television footage of Westminster Hall showed Beckham, who met the queen several times during her 70-year reign, looked tearful as he waited to file past her coffin.

Stopping to pay his respects by the coffin at around 3.25 pm, Beckham bowed his head and closed his eyes momentarily.

The government paused entry to the queue for a few hours earlier on Friday after warning of waiting times of at least 14 hours.

It snakes its way for miles through central London to parliament's Westminster Hall. Some 750,000 people in total are expected to file past the coffin before Monday morning.

Last week Beckham posted on Instagram that he was "truly saddened" by the queen's death.

"How devastated we all feel today shows what she meant to people in this country and around the world. How much she inspired us with her leadership. How she comforted us when times were tough", he wrote.

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2022-09-16 14:33:00Z
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China Braces for a Slowdown That Could be Even Worse Than 2020 - Bloomberg

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China Braces for a Slowdown That Could be Even Worse Than 2020  BloombergView Full coverage on Google News
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2022-09-15 02:26:00Z
CAIiEBR-uCxU33tMtWTO3Bt2oU4qGQgEKhAIACoHCAow4uzwCjCF3bsCMIrOrwM

King Charles, William and Harry reunited in grief to escort queen's coffin - CNA

LONDON: King Charles, his sons Princes William and Harry, and other senior royals joined a solemn procession accompanying Queen Elizabeth's coffin as the late monarch made her final journey from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday (Sep 14).

Huge crowds gathered in central London to witness the queen being taken from the palace to parliament as artillery guns fired salutes and Big Ben tolled, the latest in a series of poignant ceremonies as the nation mourns the queen who died last week aged 96 after seven decades on the throne.

Lying on a gun carriage, covered by the Royal Standard flag and with the Imperial State Crown placed on a cushion on top alongside a wreath of flowers, the coffin bearing Elizabeth's body was taken in a slow, sombre procession from her London home to Westminster Hall. There it will lie in state for four days.

Walking directly behind were Charles and his siblings, Anne, Andrew and Edward.

In a group that followed were Charles's sons Princes William and Harry, a doleful scene reminiscent of when, as boys 25 years ago, they followed the casket of their mother Princess Diana when it was taken on a similar procession through central London.

It was also a symbolic show of unity as William, 40, now the Prince of Wales, and Harry, 37, the Duke of Sussex, are said to be barely be on speaking terms after a bitter falling out in the last couple of years.

"It was very moving, seeing the family. It was a powerful show of unity," said Jenny Frame, 54, who waited for more than four hours to see the procession.

Paul Wiltshire, 65, commented: "I don't think we'll see anything like that again ever, or a queen like that again. An end of an era."

HUSHED SILENCE

A military band playing funeral marches and soldiers in ceremonial scarlet uniforms accompanied the gun carriage pulled by the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, as it moved slowly through central London, where many roads were closed to traffic.

Guns fired every minute at Hyde Park, while parliament's famous Big Ben bell also rang at 60-second intervals. The crowds stood in a hushed silence as they watched the procession but then broke into spontaneous applause when it passed. Some threw flowers.

Other senior royals including Charles' wife Camilla, now the Queen Consort, Kate, William's wife and now Princess of Wales, and Harry's wife, Meghan, travelled by car.

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2022-09-14 19:50:00Z
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King Charles and sons to follow coffin for queen's last journey from palace - CNA

LYING-IN-STATE

With much of central London closed to traffic, large crowds were building along the route to watch Wednesday's procession, which will be accompanied by guns firing every minute at Hyde Park, while parliament's Big Ben bell will toll.

When the cortege reaches Westminster Hall at the Palace of Westminster, the coffin will be carried inside by soldiers from the Grenadier Guards and placed on a catafalque. There will be a short service conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual head of the Anglican Church.

Four days of lying in state will then begin until the funeral on Sep 19.

A senior palace official described Wednesday's event as relatively small and personal. The full-scale ceremonial procession on Sep 19, the day of her funeral, is likely to be one of the biggest the country has ever witnessed.

With as many as 750,000 mourners expected to file past the coffin during its period of lying in state, people queued and slept on the streets in the rain to be able to pay their final respects.

Brenda, 79, who lives on the coast to the east of London, said she had travelled to London in 1953 after the queen's coronation to see the celebrations.

"She's been our constant ever since," she said, declining to give her full name. "Today is the day. Although it's very exciting to be here, it's to pay homage to her and respect for her, for all that she's done for us."

In Scotland around 33,000 people filed past the coffin during the 24 hours it was at St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, but the memorial in London is a much larger occasion.

The government has warned the queue could stretch for up to about 8km along the southern bank of the River Thames, winding past landmarks like the giant London Eye ferris wheel and a reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe theatre.

Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, speaking to people in the queue, said: "We are honouring two great British traditions, loving the queen and loving a queue."

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said some people may have to stand in line for as long as 30 hours in order to file past the coffin before the funeral on Monday.

Mourner Chris Imafidon said he was happy to endure a night of camping: "She's an icon of icons."

Glyn Norris, 63, said a bit of rain would not deter her from paying respects to a woman who had reigned for 70 years.

"We didn't even think about it," she said. "That was my queen."

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2022-09-14 07:20:00Z
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Hundreds queue overnight in the rain as Queen's lying-in-state nears - Sky News

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2022-09-14 06:35:21Z
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Hong Kong will deliver on banker summit, leader vows as Singapore touts own event - South China Morning Post

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Hong Kong will deliver on banker summit, leader vows as Singapore touts own event  South China Morning PostView Full coverage on Google News
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2022-09-13 03:54:19Z
CAIiEKtibWX34yrkUY-Vz4DNyPMqGQgEKhAIACoHCAowief2CjCJ2dUCMNvwrAU

Queen's funeral set to knock UK economy after rebound - CNA

LONDON: The UK's recession-threatened economy rebounded in July, data showed Monday (Sep 12), but is set to receive a further hit from a public holiday marking next week's funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

British gross domestic product expanded 0.2 per cent after a drop of 0.6 per cent in June, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

June's big decline had been attributed partly to an extra public holiday for the queen's Platinum Jubilee marking 70 years on the throne before her passing last week.

Another public holiday is scheduled next Monday for the queen's state funeral.

"The feeble 0.2 per cent bounce-back in July was driven by weak GDP in June due in part to the loss of working days from the Jubilee long weekend," noted Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK.

"More concerning, July's GDP remains below the level seen in May, pointing to an overall contraction over the first two months of summer."

Britain usually has only one public holiday in early summer but the amount was doubled for the Jubilee.

Time off work for millions of Britons next Monday means the economy will have had two more public holidays than usual in 2022.

The Bank of England (BoE) expects the UK economy to enter recession before the end of the year on decades-high inflation fuelled by surging energy and food bills.

"MORE DAMAGING"

"Looking ahead, the extra public holiday for the queen's funeral on Sep 19 has the potential to be more damaging for the economy than the extra day off for the Jubilee in June," Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said following Monday's data.

"That said, many businesses will be able to catch up work, as most of them did in June."

Pantheon is predicting the funeral to hit September GDP by 0.2 per cent.

"That suggests that a technical recession - widely defined as two quarters of declining GDP - is hanging in the balance."

The BoE forecasts UK inflation - already at a 40-year high above 10 per cent - to keep surging this year.

In a bid to tame runaway prices, the central bank has hiked its main interest rate several times since the end of last year.

More tightening of borrowing costs had been nailed on at a BoE meeting this week but its latest monetary policy gathering has been delayed until after the funeral.

Mourners later Monday get the first opportunity to pay respects before the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, as it lies in an Edinburgh cathedral where successor King Charles III will mount a vigil.

The queen died in Scotland last Thursday, aged 96.

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2022-09-12 07:57:13Z
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