A CONSTANT procession of mourners made its way through Westminster Hall as people paid their respects at the Queen’s lying in state – as it emerged that hundreds who queued the previous day had required medical assistance and the BBC livestream was paused after a guard collapsed.
Meanwhile, anger rose on social media as MPs were given passes to skip a wait that at points reached more than eight-hours long.
Members of the public queued for hours along the Thames yesterday before making their way down wide stone steps to file past the Queen’s coffin as it lay draped in the Royal Standard on a wooden frame in the centre of Westminster Hall.
A spokesperson for the House of Commons confirmed that parliamentarians can bring up to four guests and don’t have to join the queue, which has had 10 miles of infrastructure put in place and has 1000 support staff on hand from a variety of groups and charities.
Parliamentary house staff could also skip the queue and bring one guest each, while journalists with parliamentary estate passes avoided waiting in line by booking allocated time slots.
However, cleaners, security staff, caterers and workmen involved in setting up the operation have to queue with the public.
One furious social media user wrote: “Just heard some outrageous news. Apparently MPs plus one jump the queue along with any Westminster staff and foreign dignitaries.
“Fast track queue so they don’t have to wait with the plebs.
“Absolutely disgusting and hope it gets stopped ASAP.”
Another added: “The sense of entitlement of the staff, thinking they can jump the queue because they work for an MP is outstanding. Queue with the rest of us peasants. You MPs can do the same too. Not like you’re currently doing much else.”
Meanwhile, it was revealed that ambulance teams treated almost 300 members of the public along the route of the queue to see the Queen’s coffin on Wednesday – the day on which the line formally opened.
Some 291 people along the route of the queue and nearby were given medical assistance, with 17 needing hospital treatment, the London Ambulance Service (LAS) said.
Wednesday saw members of the public line the streets to see the Queen’s coffin leave Buckingham Palace for Westminster Hall.
An LAS spokesperson said: “Working with our partners, we cared for 291 patients yesterday up until midnight along the lying-in-state queuing route and surrounding areas, including Hyde Park, Whitehall and Millbank.
“Seventeen of these patients were taken to hospital.”
The queue steadily moved forward yesterday towards Westminster Hall, where two members of Liz Truss’s Cabinet were among those to stand vigil at the Queen’s coffin.
Scottish Secretary Alister Jack and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace stood solemnly in dark uniforms at the raised platform on which the coffin rests.
Both MPs are members of the Royal Company of Archers, which functions as the sovereign’s bodyguard in Scotland.
The unit also watched over the coffin while it was in St Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh earlier in the week.
The coffin was guarded at all hours by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.
Part of the late Queen’s household, the Royal Company of Archers has been an institution in Edinburgh for more than 200 years, and is based in an A-listed building, the Archers’ Hall in Buccleuch Street to the east side of the Meadows.
The role was first created in 1822 during a visit to Scotland by King George IV.
The Queen’s children will keep vigil in Westminster Hall tonight.
The BBC was forced to suspend its livestream at one point after one of the royal guards watching over the coffin suddenly collapsed.
The guard was standing at the foot of the late monarch’s casket when he suddenly fell to the floor.
Footage taken from a live broadcast at around 1am and subsequently posted to social media captured the collapse.
The black-clad guard was holding a ceremonial staff when he appeared to faint, with nearby officials quickly rushing to his aid. The broadcast took more than an hour to return.
