A Gay American's Trip to London for Queen Elizabeth II's Funeral
A self-described American anglophile has been saving up for the eventuality of Queen Elizabeth II's death for years. Finally, this weekend, he had the bitter-sweet experience of a lifetime as he participated in the monarch's final tributes.Michael Tropp has been to England more than 15 times.
While attending the University of Richmond, he spent a semester abroad at Oxford University."When Diana died, it was the day that I was moving into Richmond, and like four days later, I woke up at two in the morning and saw it on TV and bawled for six hours," Tropp, 43, tells The Advocate in an interview. "There's just always this connection that I've always had to the country and the people — the crown."So when word came of the Queen's passing, Tropp says he was prepared to travel to London. "I have been thinking about this for ten years," Tropp told The Advocate. "I promised myself that when she died, I would come.
So literally five minutes after the actual date of her funeral was announced, I was [online] booking a flight. So I booked a flight Friday night and landed Saturday morning."The Atlanta-based sales executive says he landed around 9:30 a.m., took the subway to a friend of a friend's apartment, freshened up, and left to join the queue.Above: A sign indicating the location of the Lying-in-State queue for Queen Elizabeth II.After standing in line for about ninety minutes to get a wristband that allowed access to the queue, Tropp says he made it to the back, which was more than seven miles long.
He says one could leave the line to use the restroom and get a snack with the wristband.Over the next 12 hours, Tropp says he made new friends with the people surrounding him in the four-people-deep line.
