Officials have set out the formal plans for a queue up to five miles long for people to pay respects to the Queen lying in state, a complex logistical exercise including toilets, first aid and round-the-clock refreshments on the route.
With hundreds of thousands of people expected to queue for many hours to get the chance to view the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall, volunteers from groups including the Scouts and Salvation Army have been drafted in to help.
Official guidance to the public coming to London warns those thinking of attending to expect “very long” queues, very possibly overnight, and to especially consider this if bringing children.
People will be issued with coloured and numbered wristbands, showing their place in the queue and meaning they can leave it to use toilets or fetch food and drink.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is leading on the arrangements, plans to provide live updates on the length of the queue, and where it begins at any given time. It will be closed if the numbers waiting are too great to ensure those in the line will reach Westminster in time.
The process, formally known as lying in state, begins at 5pm on Wednesday after the Queen’s coffin is taken in a procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, the 11th-century structure at the heart of the parliamentary estate.
From then, those who have queued will be able to file past the coffin 24 hours a day until 6.30am next Monday, the day of the Queen’s funeral.
The queue will begin, at its peak point, at Southwark Park in Bermondsey, on the south side of the Thames, east of parliament. It will head past Tower Bridge and London Bridge, and a series of other crossings, and over Lambeth Bridge. Once on the north side of the Thames, people will be directed briefly east again and into parliament.
While the main queue will have step-free access, officials are laying on a separate route for people unable to wait for a very long period in a gradually moving line. This accessible route will begin at Tate Britain, just west of parliament, with timed entry slots given out, at which point they can join their queue.
Kamran Mallick, the chief executive of Disability Rights UK, said that despite the separate queue, the provision showed “a breathtaking lack of awareness around the needs of disabled people” and could breach the Equality Act.
He noted that the official guidance warned that some people with medical conditions might have to wait a considerable time.
Liz Truss’s official spokesperson said any decisions on potentially closing the queue would depend on numbers.
“We do want as many people as possible to be able to come to the lying in state,” he said. “This is a significant period of mourning for the people of the United Kingdom. What we are doing is being upfront with what we expect to be significant numbers of people.
“So that will be long queues running overnight over successive days. We do have detailed plans in place to mitigate that.”
Guidance released previously has warned people that they should be silent inside parliament and dress respectfully, and that only small bags would be permitted.
Mindful of the potential ordeal of waiting in such a long queue, officials have warned people to be prepared. Along with portable toilets on the route, adjoining venues including the Southbank Centre, National and Globe theatres will provide food, drink and toilets around the clock.
As well as police and stewards, more than 1,000 volunteers will assist people, among them 120 Scouts and St John Ambulance members, with the latter opening eight first aid stations.
The weather forecast for the queue period is currently dry for the most part, but with night-time temperatures falling as low as 7C, notably colder than the capital has experienced so far this autumn.
