عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Varieties

Former England Football Captain Beckham Queues to See Queen Elizabeth’s Coffin

Former football player David Beckham leaves after paying his respects to Britain's Queen Elizabeth lying in state, following her death, in London, Britain September 16, 2022. (Reuters)
Former football player David Beckham leaves after paying his respects to Britain's Queen Elizabeth lying in state, following her death, in London, Britain September 16, 2022. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Former England Football Captain Beckham Queues to See Queen Elizabeth’s Coffin

Former football player David Beckham leaves after paying his respects to Britain's Queen Elizabeth lying in state, following her death, in London, Britain September 16, 2022. (Reuters)
Former football player David Beckham leaves after paying his respects to Britain's Queen Elizabeth lying in state, following her death, in London, Britain September 16, 2022. (Reuters)

Former England football 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.

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 2.15 a.m. (0115 GMT).

"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 p.m, 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.

Most Viewed

 
 
Varieties

Baby Born on Packed Migrant Boat off Canary Islands 'Doing Well'

A migrant holds a newborn baby as a woman lies inside a rubber boat with other migrants who were rescued off the island off the Canary Island of Lanzarote in Spain, in this handout picture obtained on January 8, 2025/File Photo
A migrant holds a newborn baby as a woman lies inside a rubber boat with other migrants who were rescued off the island off the Canary Island of Lanzarote in Spain, in this handout picture obtained on January 8, 2025/File Photo
TT
TT

Baby Born on Packed Migrant Boat off Canary Islands 'Doing Well'

A migrant holds a newborn baby as a woman lies inside a rubber boat with other migrants who were rescued off the island off the Canary Island of Lanzarote in Spain, in this handout picture obtained on January 8, 2025/File Photo
A migrant holds a newborn baby as a woman lies inside a rubber boat with other migrants who were rescued off the island off the Canary Island of Lanzarote in Spain, in this handout picture obtained on January 8, 2025/File Photo

A baby girl, who was born on a packed migrant dinghy headed for Spain's Lanzarote island in the Canaries, was being treated in hospital along with her mother and both were in good condition, medical and regional government authorities said on Thursday.

The pair were being treated with antibiotics and monitored by a pediatric team, Dr Maria Sabalich, emergency coordinator of the Molina Orosa University Hospital in Lanzarote, told Reuters.

"The mother and child are safe," she said. "They are still in the hospital, but they are doing well."

The Spanish coastguard said the boat carrying the pregnant mother had embarked from Tan-Tan, a province in Morocco about 135 nautical miles (250 km) southeast of Lanzarote.

Upon discharge from hospital, the mother and infant will be received at a humanitarian center for migrants, before likely being moved to a reception center for mothers and young children on another island, Cristina Ruiz, a spokesperson for the Spanish government in the Canaries capital Las Palmas, told Reuters.

The latest arrivals add to the thousands of migrants that strike out for the Canaries from the western African coast each year on a perilous sea voyage that claims thousands of lives.

Thanks to good weather, the rescue operation was straightforward, Domingo Trujillo, captain of the Spanish coastguard ship that rescued the migrants - a total of 60 people including 14 women and four children - told Spanish wire service EFE.

"The baby was crying, which indicated to us that it was alive and there were no problems, and we asked the woman's permission to undress her and clean her," he said. "The umbilical cord had already been cut by one of her fellow passengers. The only thing we did was to check the child, give her to her mother and wrap them up for the trip."

Overnight, the Canary Islands' rescue services recovered two more boats, bearing a total of 144 people.

Trujillo said the crews were exhausted but proud of their work.

"Almost every night we leave at dawn and arrive back late," he said. "This case is very positive, because it was with a newborn, but in all the services we do, even if we are tired, we know we are helping people in distress."