The expected queue route for the Queen’s lying in state in London is quiet as security staff prepare for millions of people to line up and pay their respects in the coming days.
Infrastructure for the queue is being set up so the public can view the late monarch’s coffin in Westminster Hall from Wednesday evening to Monday morning before her funeral.
Full details on the queue will be released at 10pm on Tuesday ahead of its opening on Wednesday at 5pm.
But security staff and stewards in high-vis vests from firms such as Headline Security and Wise Security have already been stationed at regular points along the expected route.
It stretches from Parliament’s tourist entrance at Cromwell Green down Millbank, past the Lords and Victoria Tower Gardens, across Lambeth Bridge and loops back north on the other side of the river past the Covid Memorial Wall.
Metropolitan Police officers as well as Welsh police officers are also manning the expected route, parts of which are already lined with barriers.
Portaloos and crowd control infrastructure such as barriers and temporary flooring have been set up inside Victoria Tower Gardens, which is likely to be the pinnacle of the queue before it leads into Cornwall Gardens.
A marquee and armed police can be seen at the entrance to Cornwall Gardens with several police and emergency service vehicles parked across the road.
Security staff by Victoria Tower Gardens told the PA news agency that crowds are expected to swell ahead of Wednesday afternoon.
They said the queue is likely to snake for miles, potentially all the way along the river to Tower Bridge.
However, it is not clear if the queue will stretch along South Bank after Westminster Bridge or down through the streets of Lambeth.
People will not be allowed to camp and will be given numbered wristbands to indicate their place in the queue so they are able to leave and come back, security staff said.
On Monday morning, pedestrians were walking freely up and down the route without anyone appearing to have arrived early to queue.
The atmosphere has been calm as dozens of broadcasters set up cameras to film along the south side of the river with the Palace of Westminster in the background.
People will be able to queue 24 hours a day until 6.30am on Monday for the Queen’s lying in state.
