More than 250,000 people waited in 'The Queue' to see the Queen lying in state in Westminster Hall, a minister has said.
The queue allowed members of the public to pay their last respects to Her Majesty during her four days of lying in state in the capital. Waiting times hit a peak of more than 14 hours and the queue had to be closed several times as it exceeded the planned 10 miles.
Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan said this morning that the final total of people who filed past the Queen's coffin over the four-day period was still being worked out, but that around a quarter of a million people are believed to have gone through.
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She said: "Over 250,000 people went through Parliament. We are just crunching the final numbers so that's an approximate figure at the moment."
She was also pressed on the cost of the funeral but said that most British people would see it as 'money well spent'. She told Sky News: "I’m not sure of the exact costings but as I say, I think the British public would argue that that was money well spent.
"You saw so many thousands out there and I don’t think anybody can suggest that our late monarch didn’t deserve that send-off, given the duty and the selfless service that she committed to over 70 years."
She said it would be 'downright preposterous' to suggest otherwise. "It was great sense of the community coming together. I always think of our late monarch as the glue that brought society together", Ms Donelan added.
Tens of thousands of people turned out to watch the late monarch’s funeral procession make its slow journey through the capital and on to Windsor Castle for the committal service yesterday. The Queen was then laid to rest with her husband the Duke of Edinburgh during a private evening burial service attended just by close family.
The family’s website said it was conducted by the Dean of Windsor, adding: "The Queen was buried together with The Duke of Edinburgh, at The King George VI Memorial Chapel."
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