Was ‘The Queue’ really necessary?

Over the last ten days, more than 250,000 people waited in line to visit the Queen lying in State. The nation came together and showed their respect to the longest-serving Monarch in British history, but were the severe conditions of ‘The Queue’ really necessary?

The most shocking part of The Queue is that on several occasions, people were left waiting over 30 hours, in freezing temperatures, for a brief encounter with the Queen. 30 hours, standing up, day and night with little food and water, sounds like torture rather than an act of kindness and respect. Unfortunately, over 1500 people had to receive medical attention due to the disastrous effects of The Queue.

Even the ‘accessible’ queue had severe issues. It was opened and then closed and opened again due to full capacity, meaning people travelled from all over the country, and the world, to be told they couldn’t join at all. This is something not to be overlooked and forgiven.

At QHERE, we’ve been wondering why the UK Government Department didn’t implement other queuing methods for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This department needs to answer the dying question, ‘Why wasn’t a remote queuing method used to avoid the dangers of The Queue?’. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, we’re probably not going to get an answer.

It’s hard to deny that a remote queue would have completely avoided all of the issues that The Queue presented. People would have been able to join the queue from their smartphone or by scanning a QR code that could have been located outside Westminster Hall. Once in the queue, citizens would have been able to get on with their everyday life until the app told them to leave their current location to get to Westminster Hall on time for their viewing.

It’s a simple process that would have been quick to implement. Instead, the DCMS decided to use colour-coded wristbands, given at the beginning of the queue, which only allowed people to leave the queue for a short toilet break; that’s all the flexibility this process gave. Also, anyone who accidentally lost their wristband had to rejoin from the back!

We’re hoping that in any event similar to this, a remote queue would be considered by authorities. It ensures safety, trust, flexibility, and so many other benefits that can’t be overlooked. Plus, these remote processes can be adjusted and modelled as per the occasion.

In the end, we don’t wish to overlook the fact that the nation came together at this momentous time to celebrate such an inspirational Monarch that all will miss.

HM Queen Elizabeth II, may you rest in peace.

If you want to know more about remote queuing options, please visit our website – www.qhere.com