Former Home Secretary Priti Patel has been spotted marshalling the queue for Queen Elizabeth II’s lying-in-state.
The ex-secretary of state was seen by a mourner on Sunday who pulled her aside for a picture as the queue stretched for up to five miles with a waiting time of 24 hours at one point during the four-day lying-in-state in Westminster.
Gavriel Solomons, deputy chair of Welwyn Hatfield Young Conservatives, wrote on Twitter: “All credit to Priti Patel for helping marshall the queue.
“I even have a terrible photo to prove it.”
Other sightings of the Witham MP showed her posing for pictures with mourners while wearing a blue hi-vis vest and black sunglasses.
In her tribute to the Queen, the former minister thanked the late monarch for her “lifetime of duty and public service to the people of this country, the Commonwealth and other parts of the world”.
“For seventy years she has been a constant in our public life and an inspiration. Speaking with residents in Witham, they all remember how the late Queen was always there for us, in good times and bad, and send their sincere and heartfelt condolences to King Charles III and the Royal Family,” she added,
Thousands of police officers were deployed to marshall the queue and ensure the safe passage of mourners as part of Operation Feather - the plan for overseeing of the event - which saw just under a million people descend on the capital to pay their respects to the Queen. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said the force was supported by officers from “pretty much every force across the country”.
“The number of officers deployed is heading to a point where it will be well beyond the total size of a force like West Midlands or Greater Manchester. It'll be heading into the high numbers of thousands,” the new commissioner said.
As well as officers patrolling routes and controlling crowds, Sir Rowley said specialist counter-terror, firearms and search officers will be supporting the event “in an as unobtrusive way as possible”.
Deputy assistant commissioner Stuart Cundy added: “This will be the largest single policing event that the Met Police has ever undertaken.
“As a single event this is larger than the 2012 Olympics, it is larger than the Platinum Jubilee weekend.
“The range of officers, police staff and all those supporting the operation is truly immense.”
In the wake of the Queen’s death, officers were drafted in from outside forces to help with up to 20,000 officer shifts throughout the week of the Queen’s lying in state and 2,000 officers in a single day at the peak, Mr Cundy said.
Specialist teams involved in the operation include motorbike escort riders, officers carrying out patrols on horseback, armed police, dog teams and the marine unit.
The force has used more than 22 miles (36km) of barriers in central London alone to control crowds and keep key areas secure.
