As I emerged from the Tube just moments after arriving in London a cavalcade of blacked-out cars, escorted by police vehicles and motorbikes with their blue lights shining and horns blaring, raced past. There were murmurs among the crowd, stopped by police on the pavement, that it was Joe Biden but no-one could be completely sure.
It is a spectacle that set the scene for the next 24 hours. When you are visiting a city that is hosting heads of state, prime ministers, emperors, and presidents from nearly every country of the world on the eve of the Queen's state funeral it really shouldn't have come as such a surprise. The security is so intense, boosted by staff from police forces across the UK, you quickly get used to turning a corner to find a street closed off, a line of soldiers marching past, or first-aiders cycling in formation.
Everyone has a view on the monarchy – some think there is no future for it, others have anger at how much has been spent in the past 10 days – but what you cannot deny is that we have been witnessing history in the making over the past 24 hours. More than a million people reportedly came to the centre of London to view it for themselves.
