'SHE'S AT PEACE'
Brits weep in ‘moving’ scenes as heartbroken mourners pay tribute to Queen lying in state after eight hour wait
HEARTBROKEN mourners have paid tribute as they wait in queues lasting more than eight hours to see the Queen finally "at peace" as she lies in state in Westminster.
Thousands of tearful members of the public began queueing through the streets yesterday in scenes described as "beautiful", following Her Majesty's death last Thursday.
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The late monarch's coffin, draped in the Royal Standard, will lie in state at Westminster Hall until 6.30am on Monday - the day of her funeral.
Thousands of mourners have joined a queue over 3.5miles long to file past Her Majesty.
Some camped out overnight to pay their respects despite the miserable weather.
The current line has stretched past London Bridge to HMS Belfast as more well-wishers continue to join.
Read More On The Queen's Death
Alec Munroe, 41, left his home in Newton Abbot, Devon at midnight in order to get to Buckingham Palace for the procession.
He told The Sun: “I wanted to be here to say goodbye to the Queen and welcome the new King.
"I got a coach here and won't get back until midnight tonight. It's a whole 24 hours.
“It really hit me when the coffin went past and everyone was so quiet. It felt like the right thing to do.
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"At previous services people have clapped but it was so powerfully quiet.
“All you could hear was the band and the guns. It was incredibly moving.”
Mourners were seen queuing overnight with the line stretched as far back as London Bridge at 2am.
Doors opened at 5pm on Wednesday after King Charles III led a poignant procession from Buckingham Palace, flanked by his family.
Sue Harvey, 50, an accountant, was among those in tears after filing past the coffin.
"Inside it was really quiet, really calm, and incredibly emotional. A lot of people were in tears but there was a total silence. It was just so respectful," she told AFP.
"I wanted to make sure I did see her no matter how long the queue was going to be, because I never met her when she was alive."
Vickie Wicks, 36, a clinical paramedic specialist who took the day off work, was also in tears after leaving the hall.
She said: "The guards were watching her one last time at the four corners of the coffin. It was beautiful.
"She was at peace."
But it was all too much for one guard who collapsed in full view of shocked mourners during the BBC live stream of the Queen's lying-in-state.
The incident forced the corporation to take the stream off the airwaves momentarily in the early hours of Thursday.
'I HAD TO SAY GOODBYE'
Parbatee and Bobby Manoo, originally from Trinidad and Tobago, said they had come to pay their respects to the Queen after her "long years of service not just to Britain but all of the Commonwealth".
Mr Parbatoo, 53, said: "We have a long history with the monarch.
"When I was a young chap, the Queen and Prince Philip visited in the early '80s and she passed just in front of our house, so we saw her probably twice or three times."
Mrs Parbatee, 48, said: "I think she has always been a constant and steady in her duty, responsibilities and how she has respected people."
Robin White, 78, an honorary colonel in the British Army, says he had been lucky enough to be made a commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) by the Queen personally.
Robin, who was bestowed the honour after helping to raise a whopping £65 million for the Duke of Edinburgh award scheme, told the BBC he felt "intense warmth" when he met Her Majesty.
He had joined the long queues "for one reason, to serve her" adding "it's a huge honour to me. I had to say goodbye and I've said that".
The grieving Monarch looked sombre as he left Buckingham Palace for Westminster Hall for Her Majesty's final public duty.
Millions of people are expected to make their way to London this week to say goodbye to Her Majesty while she's lying in state at Parliament's Westminster Hall.
It comes as...
- Princes William and Harry stood shoulder to shoulder in the emotional walk from Buckingham Palace
- Meghan Markle followed the procession in a car with Sophie while Princess Kate and Camilla were driven to Westminster Hall
- Harry and Andrew wore suits after being banned from wearing military uniforms
- No 10 revealed an update on calls for an annual bank holiday after a petition gathered thousands of signatures
The queue could reach lengths of ten miles, with infrastructure currently set up to support nearly seven miles of royal fans stretching from Lambeth Bridge to Southwark Park.
If necessary, the park will accommodate an extra three miles of zig-zag lines.
Many are hoping to offer their condolences to the Queen and be a part of history by viewing her coffin.
But it is not guaranteed that everyone who makes the queue will get to see the Queen lying in state.
Entry to the line will also be paused for a time if the queuing infrastructure cannot take any more people.
There will be an element of self-policing when it comes to people keeping their places in the queue for the Queen’s lying in state, it is understood.
Those waiting in line will be given a coloured and numbered wristband, specific to each person, allowing them to leave for a reasonable amount of time.
The royals united in their grief on Wednesday afternoon as they watched the Queen's coffin being left on the catafalque of the vast hall.
There were tears and raw emotion from some of the devastated family members as they joined in prayers for Her Majesty.
It followed a sombre 38-minute procession where King Charles led the Queen's children and grandchildren from the Palace past thousands of mourners.
Princess Eugenie and her cousin Lady Louise were both pictured looking upset as the magnitude of the day sunk in.
Prince Harry, who had earlier walked alongside his brother in the cortege, wiped his face in a moment of raw emotion.
Some of the other royals even appeared to put their rumoured differences aside as they stood supporting one another in the hall.
Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton remained close as songs chosen by the Queen echoed from the wooden beams in the room.
There were bows and salutes as four soldiers took their place along the four corners of the catafalque inside in the hall to keep guard over Her Majesty.
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