Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #thequeueforthequeen
Most recents (2)
Several people have told me that #TheQueue ( #thequeueforthequeen) is like something from the Middle Ages and have asked me, as a medievalist, about it. Here are a few #medieval thoughts about some similarities and differences. 🧵
People on @BBCr4today described seeing flashes of light at the catafalque. Similar signs were reported at medieval royal shrines; e.g at St Fremund's tomb at Offchurch (Warwickshire) the sun shone brightly as a 'special sygne', guiding pilgrims to the entombment of the saint 
(The Catafalque, a word we don’t use very often, is a borrowing from baroque Roman Catholicism, especially papal catafalques. @OED says it first appeared c. 1660 as 'cartapalco' and derives from medieval Latin 'catafaltus', scaffold. Here's Pope Paul V's catafalque, Rome, 1621)
![Pope Paul V [Borghese]'s catafalque, Rome (Santa Maria Maggi](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fc2sqcmWYAEPWay.png)
The Queue is a marvel of Britishness. I’ve just joined in Southwark Park. I’m at the head of the queue and have been walking for 15 minutes of rotating Z shapes.
People aren’t overtaking each other, even when marginal gains could be won. I’m behind an old couple walking slowly, but I’m not overtaking and taking the W.
Can confirm there are more toilets here than at Reading Festival.
