The queue to reach the Queen’s coffin took some mourners more than nine hours to complete but many said the long wait was worth it. At one point during the first full day of Queen Elizabeth II lying in state in Westminster Hall volunteers along the route, which hugged the south banks of the River Thames, said there could be another 10 to 12 hours to go from Tower Bridge.
Mourners said there was “breath-taking” serenity awaiting them in Westminster Hall where “you could hear a pin drop” in the silence. As of 11.30pm on Thursday, the queue was 4.9 miles long, drifting back as far as Southwark Park in Bermondsey, with an estimated waiting time of nine hours.
A little over two hours later, the waiting time had jumped to 14 hours, although the mileage of the queue remained the same. Nurse Melanie Pickman, 50, left her home in Swansea at 11am to join the back of the queue just before 3pm.
The mother-of-three said: “My sons think I’m mad because I have come to London to stand in a queue which some people say could be 30 hours long. Last night I thought about it and I made the decision to come first thing this morning. I just thought that I needed to come."
Firefighters were seen handing out bottles of water, volunteers from the Samaritans were available and there was a noticeable presence of stewards, police and portable toilets along the route. The UK chief commissioner of the Scouts said the mood among the crowds waiting to pay their respects was “friendly and poignant”.
Carl Hankinson, who is among volunteers to monitor the queue throughout Victoria Gardens, said Scouts had been “on their feet 12 hours” a day to help ensure the smooth running of admissions. The Scout, who once met the Queen at a garden party, said: “She was fantastic in every way. She was interested in Scouts, she was conversational, very encouraging and very supportive of young people.”
Marc Carney, 58, filed past the Queen’s coffin at 6.40pm after travelling from his home in Hythe, Kent, on Thursday morning. The moment he got to say his personal goodbye left him “struck by the realism” of everything that is happening. He added: “It hits you how moving it all us and how much love and support there’s for the Queen."
Amy Harris, 34, and Matthew Edwards, 35, met James Cross, 65, after getting the train to London from Birmingham to join the queue at about 1am. The atmosphere in Westminster Hall was “breath-taking", Ms Harris said.
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