London for the 76th time: The Israeli who flew to the Queen's funeral for one thing

Dov Greenblatt, an avid Londoner, flies only to the capital of England.

And this is his 76th visit to the city, and this time to wait for the Queen's coffin, like a good Englishman.

For 5 hours he waited in one place, without moving, eating or drinking.

But there was no way in the world he would have missed it

Dov Greenblatt, London

09/19/2022

Monday, September 19, 2022, 4:49 p.m. Updated: 5:37 p.m.

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The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London (Photo: Dov Greenblatt)

7 minutes.

Only 7 minutes passed from the moment that the British news networks published the date of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral to the moment that there were already two emails in the e-mail box on my computer - one with the flight confirmations and the other with the hotel confirmations.

75 times (!) I have already visited London - I was here in the winter, and in the summer, in the fall and in the spring, I came here to see tennis at Wimbledon, and I came here for Christmas, I went here to celebrate my birthday, my partner's birthday and the child's birthday, I flew here Towards the end of a civil year, in honor of the beginning of a new civil year, to try new restaurants and see fascinating exhibitions, I was here alone, and I was here only with my partner, I was here only with the child and we were here together, the whole family.

And I came here several dozen more times, "just like that", because this is my favorite city and the place where I feel most at home.

And so, when the date of Elizabeth Alexandra Mary's funeral was announced, I never for one moment imagined that such an event would be something I could afford to miss.

On the way to the funeral (photo: surfers' photos, Dov Greenblatt)

Waiting for the closet (photo: surfer photos, Dov Greenblatt)

All the hands, of everyone, are holding their phones and trying to record the historic moment (Photo: Surfers' Photos, Dov Greenblatt)

At the train station at Luton Airport, a prominent sign promoted the following: "Due to the Queen's funeral, there may be significant delays in public transportation in the coming days, please plan your journey accordingly."

Indeed, the 21:19 train arrived at 21:19 and 28 seconds.

Annoying, but I will.

My plan, for two in the morning, was to get up early, get organized quickly and get a good spot in front of Westminster Church.

If I get there around 7-8 in the morning, 3-4 hours before the ceremony, I'll probably be first in line for the church, I thought to myself.

It didn't take long until I discovered that I was living in a movie.

Even before seven in the morning, when I left the hotel, towards Trafalgar Square and from there to Westminster, the streets were sparse with people and even quite empty.

What a grind, I patted myself on the back, well done, it paid off to get up early and leave quickly.

But then I got to Trafalgar and the situation, to put it mildly, changed.

and not for the better.

The entire area of ​​the church was a fortified destination - the streets were blocked by high wooden walls, access from the general public was denied, passage was allowed only to those with permits and thousands of police, soldiers and orderlies maintained order.

In the meantime, watching the funeral ceremony (Photo: Surfers Photos, Dov Greenblatt)

I won't find anything better than that

OK, plan B - to stand along Hamel Avenue, in front of Buckingham Palace.

After the ceremony at Westminster, the casket should arrive here, so that's also good.

the truth?

Not a bad idea at all, but not particularly original - a long and extremely busy swarm of people, many hundreds of thousands, at a rough estimate, made its way to exactly the same avenue and then I already realized that my dreams, of being in the front line of the procession, would remain only dreams.

At 08:08 I positioned myself at a distance of about 10-12 meters from the fence that separated the crowd from the road.

I won't find anything better than that.

The ceremony is going to start in just three more hours, last about an hour and only then the convoy will leave here, that is - it is about five hours of waiting standing, without food, without drink, without anything.

Just stand and wait.

But I came here to take a picture of the coffin and I will do it, at any cost, that's the goal, that's the destination.

Wall of a building in central London (photo: Golishim photos, Dov Greenblatt)

A bag store in the city (photo: surfer photos, Dov Greenblatt)

Hundreds of thousands of people fall silent in one moment

Only an hour later, a little after nine, my legs are already really sore from standing, but I console myself with the fact that the British are very punctual and there are only two more hours left for the ceremony.

and an hour for the ceremony.

And at least an hour, until the coffin arrives here.

4 hours.

in the small

At exactly 11 o'clock, the loudspeakers scattered along the boulevard begin to broadcast the ceremony live - only in sound, of course, without a picture - and hundreds of thousands of people fall silent in an instant.

The silence of a cemetery falls on the place and everyone listens to the ceremony with seriousness and respect like I have never seen before.

At twelve, exactly as planned, the ceremony ends and the motorcade begins preparations for the march to Buckingham Palace.

That's it, it's the money time, a matter of an hour or an hour plus and the closet passes me by.

Meanwhile, after about four hours of waiting, my legs are burning, my back hurts, I'm thirsty, hungry, I have to drink and I have to eat something.

But I came here with a mission - to grab a frame of the coffin, and the mission will be accomplished, no matter what it will involve and what will be required for that.

At 13:04 the coffin passes in front of me.

All hands, everyone's without exception, are holding mobile phones and hoisted up, trying to record the historic moment.

I raise the camera as high as possible and start ticking.

A photo and another photo, and another and another, dozens one after the other in a row.

Only when I am at the hotel and download the photos to the computer, will I know if I succeeded and the task was accomplished.

"It's the money time, a matter of an hour or an hour plus and the coffin passes me by" (Photo: Surfers Photos, Dov Greenblatt)

I arrived at the position at 08:08, I left the place at 13:06 minutes, almost five hours, I stood in one place, without moving, half a meter, on half a meter, in a terrible pinch, without eating or drinking anything, but nothing, since yesterday evening .

No coffee, not even a glass of water.

Nightmare.

But would I rather be somewhere else today?

There is no way in the world, I would do it again, even tomorrow.

And a picture of the closet?

you are welcome.

Finally.

The casket in the funeral procession, today (photo: Golishim photos, Dov Greenblatt)

More photos of Dov Greenblatt, on his Instagram page.

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