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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Alahna Kindred

Incredible colour footage shows King George VI's lying-in-state queues 70 years later

These incredible images show mourners queuing to see Queen Elizabeth II 's father King George VI lying-in-state 70 years ago.

As the queue to see Queen Elizabeth lying-in-state continues to grow and wrap around London, footage of the queue from February 1952 has resurfaced.

Stuart Humphreys, who enhances early colour photography, has edited together a 58-second clip to show the queues and funeral procession of King George VI.

Sharing it on Twitter, he captioned it saying: "I have edited together for you some rare colour film footage of the queues and London crowds for the Lying In State and funeral procession of King George VI in February 1952. Events, just as today, separated by 70 years."

Thousands queued to see King George VI lying-in-state (BabelColour/Twitter)

Many commented about the differences between the lying-in-state in 1952 and today.

One commented: "May I make an interesting observation? This remarkable footage tells me that the happenings now are not primarily because our beloved Queen Elizabeth has died, but because the Monarch of the United Kingdom has died."

Another added: "They were better dressed. So many people now look like they just got out of bed."

Mourners were seen lying the streets in London in 1952 (BabelColour/Twitter)

You can leave your tributes to Queen Elizabeth II here

Queen Elizabeth II, the UK's longest-serving monarch, died last Thursday, and the country and Commonwealth have been in a state of mourning.

A live feed has been set up by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport..

It comes after Tory ministers warned that mourners could face five-mile queues and 30-hour waits to see Her Majesty lying in state in Westminster Hall.

Brits will be able to view the Queen's coffin until Monday, when her funeral is due to take place.

This is footage from the funeral procession in 1952 (BabelColour/Twitter)

Many mourners braved the elements overnight as they waited in line to pay their respects to the monarch.

Members of the public were welcomed into Westminster Hall to view the Queen's coffin on Wednesday afternoon.

However, some had been queueing from as early as Monday to get in line on Albert Embankment.

Officials are expecting upwards of 750,000 people to go and see the coffin.

The largely black-clad crowd were solemn and pensive as they began to flow into the ancient hall where chandeliers and spotlights illuminated the scene beneath the medieval timber roof.

This footage has been edited and colourised (BabelColour/Twitter)

As ordinary people of all ages filed past the coffin of the long-reigning monarch, many wiped their eyes with tissues.

Some bowed, some curtsied and some simply took a moment to look at the extraordinary scene.

Buckingham Palace announced a team of nearly 100 Royal Navy sailors set to carry Her Majesty's coffin to Westminster Abbey before she is finally laid to rest with her beloved Prince Philip.

On Monday morning the King and senior royals including his sons the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex, as well as Princess Royal, Duke of York, will again march behind his mother as she is moved from Westminster Hall to Westminster Abbey.

Around 2,000 world leaders will attend the service after which a two-minute silence will be held. The national anthem will then be played to signal the closing of the service.

You can now buy Friday's historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative

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