American Student Shares Why She Waited 5 Hours to See Queen Lying in State: 'It's a Moment in History'

Among the thousands of people who walked through Westminster Hall to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth was an American student who wanted to witness history.

Isabella Heffernan, a 19-year-old student studying bio-ethics at Stanford University, waited five hours in line to file past the late monarch's coffin ahead of the state funeral on September 19.

"I personally don't have a connection to the Queen, but I thought it's a moment in history," Heffernan tells PEOPLE. "She reigned for 70 years, and it's something you're never going to get again."

She adds, "It's something you will tell your kids and your grandkids about, and it's a moment in the history books — and to me, that was the important thing."

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BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Westminster Hall

Heffernan, a Rhode Island native, was visiting family in Dublin, Ireland when Queen Elizabeth died last week at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

"I immediately bought a ticket to come here," she says about hearing the news.

The student says that with her family from Northern Ireland, "political tensions with England are not easy." When she called her father to tell him she was heading to London, he "was less than happy" but understood.

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"I'm really into history, and when you have the opportunity to experience a historical moment, it's so important to do so," Heffernan says.

DANIEL LEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images King Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry

Heffernan described the atmosphere inside Westminster Hall as "sorrowful but grateful."

"You could tell this meant so much to people," she explains. "When people go on tours to the U.S. Capitol, it's more laid back. But here, it was like their own grandmother had died. That's the way it felt, which was actually shocking but also amazing and interesting to see."

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CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/POOL/AFP via Getty Queen Elizabeth lying in state

She adds, "I just can't get over how much people seem to connect with her because I've met a couple of political figures. I've met Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders and state senators when I was younger, and you didn't have that deep connection. You'd hear about a funeral and would feel kind of sad. But the Queen has given her life to service, and her people are so grateful, which to me was a really surprising thing to see."

Chris Jackson/Getty Images Queen Elizabeth attends Trooping the Colour in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle to mark her official birthday on June 12, 2021

Carol Hazeldine, 57, from the U.K. was crying after seeing the Queen's coffin alongside her sister, Ann Hakendorf, 59. They waited in the line for 2.4 miles.

"We just lost our mum in February, who was a big royalist, so we came for our mum and for the Queen, who was an amazing lady and deserves us paying our respects. I've known her all my life, and we were here for the Silver Jubilee with our mum," Carol tells PEOPLE.

Recalling the monarch's annual Christmas Day broadcast, Carol adds, "She's part of our lives. She was with us every Christmas Day, wasn't she? She made our Christmases."

"It's a surreal experience," she says. "I'm crying because seeing the coffin makes it real. As I passed by, it was more like losing your own mum, and we know how that feels. It hasn't sunk in that it's the Queen. But now it's real, and everything's going to change."