David Beckham joined a public queue during Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Friday.
He was seen wiping a tear from his eye while approaching the monarch’s coffin after queuing for 13 hours.
Beckham later admitted to television cameras that he thought it would be “quieter” to go at 2:00 a.m. but he was wrong. However, he stated that it was “special to be here.”
The former England soccer captain, 47, was among a crowd of thousands of mourners who queued at least five miles. After hours of avoiding detection, he bought a box of donuts that he shared with other people who attended the solemn ceremony.
Beckham joined other high-profile figures such as Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid and former Prime Minister Theresa May. Other celebrities in attendance at the finale included “This Morning” hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield.
The former Manchester United striker arrived at the monarch’s coffin around 3:30 p.m. He only took a few seconds to tilt his head and then stepped aside to let the people behind him pass.
Shortly after, he was seen in the crowd again and answered a few questions for ITV News.
Speaking about his decision to join the mourners who attended the Queen’s funeral, the football star recalled when he was made an OBE for services to football in the monarch’s birthday honors list 19 years ago.
“To receive my OBE, I took my grandparents with me, who were the ones that really brought me up to be a huge royalist and a fan of the royal family, and obviously I had my wife there as well,” Beckham added.
“To step up, to get my honor, but then also Her Majesty, to ask questions, to talk, I was so lucky that I was able to have a few moments like that in my life, to be around Her Majesty,” he went on.
The English soccer legend also recalled how special the Queen was, saying that he believed it would take a long time to understand her death because “Her Majesty meant so much in so many different ways.”
