The queue for the laying in state of the Queen’s coffin will be more than 10 miles long, UK government officials have warned. The line includes 6.9 miles from Victoria Tower Gardens to Southwark Park, with a further three miles inside Southwark Park.
Large queues were already formed along the Albert Embankment of the Thames as people waited for the Queen’s lying-in-state to begin on Wednesday. Scottish Secretary Alister Jack and UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, both members of the Royal Company of Archers, the sovereign’s Scottish bodyguard, are expected to be among those who stand vigil over the coffin in Westminster.
Millions are expected to file past the late monarch’s coffin as it lays in state in Westminster Hall until the state funeral on Monday. Access to Westminster Hall will begin at 5pm on Wednesday, after the coffin is carried in procession from Buckingham Palace down the Mall to parliament.
It is not guaranteed that everyone who makes the queue will get to pay their respects before 6.30am on Monday, September 19, the day of the Queen’s funeral. Entry to the back of the line may be closed early, to ensure as near as possible that those already waiting are able to file past the late monarch’s coffin.
Thousands of police officers have been deployed in London for the Queen’s lying in state and for her funeral as millions of people are expected to pay their respects to the late monarch.
The security operation in the wake of the Queen’s death and surrounding her funeral is expected to be the biggest the UK has ever seen.
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