A MILLION THAN MA’AM NK YOUS,
MORE than a MILLION people are expected to line up to pay their respects to the late Queen as she lies in state at Westminster Hall.
Members of the public started to arrive on Monday to secure their place in the historic queue, which will snake for FOUR MILES from an assembly point at Southwark Park, along the River Thames to the Palace of Westminster.
For each of the next four days, hundreds of thousands of people will file past the coffin on its catafalque and pay their respects, just as they did for the Queen Mother lying in state in 2002.
Those wishing to pay their respects will be able to file solemnly past the Queen’s coffin 24 hours-a-day from 5pm today until 6.30am on Monday, the day of the funeral.
Well-wishers have been told to expect “very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving”.
Visitors will only be allowed to bring one small bag with them, smaller than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm, and have been told to dress for the weather and bring refreshments.
Pictures
People are not allowed to film, take pictures or use their phones inside the Palace of Westminster.
Large crowds are expected to attend, with delays on public transport and road closures anticipated.
Security staff manning the queue route to Westminster Hall said yesterday that crowds are expected to swell ahead of this afternoon.
Government guidance also set out guidelines on how people should behave, saying they should remain silent inside the Palace of Westminster.
It also urged people to “dress appropriately for the occasion to pay your respects”, banning clothes “with political or offensive slogans”.
“Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster,” it added.
Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be booted out of the queue by stewards and police patrolling.
Visitors will also face airport-style security checks, with tight restrictions on what can be taken in.
Senior Royals are also expected to pay their own moving tribute, standing guard at some stage around the coffin – the tradition known as the Vigil of the Princes.
When the Queen’s coffin lay in state at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, the King, the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex all stood vigil.
Thousands queued to pay their respects in the Scottish capital.
The first person arrived to queue for the Queen’s lying in state in London on Monday – more than 48 hours before the lines open.
Vanessa Nathakumaran, 56, from Harrow, appeared at 12pm on Monday to the south of Lambeth bridge.
Ms Nathakumaran, who is staying at a hotel in Lambeth so she does not miss the opportunity to pay her respects, said she began “admiring the Royal family” from the age of 10 and has “a huge respect for them”.
The administrative assistant, who grew up in Sri Lanka before moving to the UK to study in the 1980s, said her great uncle, Sir Vaithilingam Duraiswamy, was knighted by King George VI for services to Sri Lanka, when it was called Ceylon.
And her daughter, Praveena Nanthakumaran, met the Queen as an air cadet.
“I’m really proud that our family got involved in some of the Queen’s life and the start of her reign,” she said.
Ms Nathakumaran said that when she started working in London she got “so interested in English culture and the Royal family and Government that I always wanted to pay my respect”.
Monday’s funeral will echo that of the Queen’s father, King George VI, who was laid to rest in 1952.
The last state funeral held in Britain was in 1965 for Sir Winston Churchill, who was granted the rare honour thanks to his service to the country during the Second World War.