Now MPs join demands for cortege route to be longer

It’s not too late to change rigid plans and let millions more of us bid the Queen farewell

CALLS are growing for the Queen’s funeral route to be lengthened so that many more people can pay their final respects.

Senior MPs yesterday joined the clamour for the late monarch’s final journey from Westminster Abbey on Monday to be extended.

There are fears that tens of thousands of people will be left disappointed by the current arrangements because they will not all be able join the lengthy queue to see the lying-in- state in Parliament this week or watch the walking procession to Hyde Park Corner after the service.

One option – first raised by the Daily Mail’s Robert Hardman yesterday – would be to extend the last section of the journey to the Queen’s final resting place in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

At the moment the coffin is due to travel directly down the final stretch of the Long Walk to the castle, but it could take in the whole three-mile path, allowing potentially hundreds of thousands of extra mourners to line the route.

A last-minute change in the plan in response to the overwhelming public demand would echo the surprise decision to let more people see Princess Diana’s funeral cortege in 1997, which saw the starting point moved from St James’s Palace to Kensington Palace at the last minute, adding an extra mile and allowing tens of thousands more to pay tribute.

Former Cabinet minister David Jones said last night: ‘It looks very much as if not everybody who wants to go to the lying in state will be able to do so because there’s going to be overwhelming interest in it. We’re talking about waits of over 30 hours.

‘What’s very clear from the last few days is the enormous affection that people have for The Queen and the fact that so many people are going to be missing her now that she’s gone. So I think that anything that gives as many people as possible the opportunity to pay their respects is a good idea. I certainly think it’s a good idea and I hope that they will consider it.’

Another senior Conservative agreed: ‘I do have sympathy with the argument that the route should be extended.

‘There are many people who wish to see the late Queen and this might relieve the pressure on the queues building up to see Her Majesty in Westminster Hall.’ And former London Assembly member Peter Whittle said: ‘The answer is simple: The funeral route should be extended.

‘At the Jubilee, it was frustrating how officials “closed” the route, saying it was full.

‘This is typical modern overcautiousness and risk aversion. Whether on the route or at lying in state, nobody should be turned away.’

However, Downing Street has played down hopes of a late change of plan.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘On the procession route, that is obviously agreed with the Palace in advance so there is no plan to change that. There are a number of procession routes that people can use, so we want as many people as possible to have sight of that procession.’

And a former Metropolitan Police royal protection officer warned it would be risky for the meticulously planned Operation London Bridge, the long-held arrangements for the Queen’s death, to be altered at short notice.

Ken Wharfe, who was a bodyguard for Princess Diana, told the Daily Mail: ‘The Queen herself has been involved for decades in this – it will have been written in stone.

‘And the police would not wish to change it at short notice, especially as they are already stretched. When you try to change things to appease the public, that’s when the risk increases.’

‘Nobody should be turned away’