FRIDAY 16th SEMPTEMBER 7am-8PM

And so they came.

It was relentless. I didn't mind. Hour after hour. I told them to lay their flowers in Green Park. Shuffle past Buckingham Palace as fast as you can, we needed to keep everyone moving. The happy and the solemn, plenty of tourists wanting to take their selfies. I helped everyone. 

I took so many photos of people and family groups. So many people form all over the world coming to pay their respects. I've always been glad of The Queen and her family. It's a difficult job I reckon. My Mum and Dad had a difficult job, putting up with four of us. They never complained either.

My Mum and Dad always wanted four children too. I'm the youngest. 

I realised after seeing the queue file past Buckingham Palace to lay their flowers what a hassle it would be to have children and what a waste of time it would be to have them standing in a queue. How cruel I thought. They could be in London and hanging out in Hamelys. Anyway, I kept saying to the family groups that I'm not the best photographer in the world. 

I went for a cigarette on my toilet break. I got twenty minutes again but I'd learnt not to drink my flask of coffee too soon. My thirteen hour shift the previous day had taught me that. I kept looking over to the media tents enviously. I saw they had toilets but my portaloos were still a 10 minute walk and a 10 minute walk back. Cigarette or sandwich? I never do both. 

My back hurt. The police were nice. They said their back's hurt too and we all had a laugh about it. They were okay though. They complained about only having an hour break. I decided to not  mention my twenty minute break as I knew they were protecting me.

THE QUEEN'S FUNERAL AND HANGING ABOUT BUCKINGHAM PALACE

 8TH SEPTEMBER THE QUEEN'S DEATH

I was sitting in Wetherspoons in Leytonstone when The Queen died. I was probably on the train from Manchester when she passed. As soon as Huw Edwards was wearing his black suit I knew. I've got some work to do and thank God it's not football. 

SATURDAY 10th SEPTEMBER 

I walked from Tottenham Court Road Tube Station to The Mall. My sign in was in some tents in Saint James's Park.There were lots of other stewards. Hundreds. I'd never seen so many. I felt safe. I felt nervous though as I didn't know where I would be placed. I had to give my passport to sign in. Other people had forgotten to bring their photo I.D. but the people signing them in didn't seem to mind. They were just after stewards.

I was assigned to The Queen Victoria Flower Gardens of Buckingham Palace. I stood there for 13 hours for 4 days. I was paid £10 an hour. I was allowed two 20 minutes breaks in this time. It took me ten minutes to walk up to the portaloos and walk back again. I was so hungry but I had no time to eat my sandwich. My boyfriend had made me a sandwich and he is no Royalist. However... I am. 

I loved The Queen and I'll never forget the letters she sent back to me when I wrote to her. Standing there and staring at her empty balcony... Well I felt great. These were my special thirteen hours, from sunrise until after sunset. 

I thought about The Queen and how she stood on her feet for many hours and how she never complained about her predicament. I'll complain now but not to The Palace. Rather to my my agency A.P.S. Someone asked me what that stood for and even though I was wearing my Hi-Vis with it on the back, I hadn't a clue. I asked. It stands for All Purpose Security.