‘Small bit of service’ to wait in a 5-mile line to see the Queen
The queue to see Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin can be as long as 12 hours. Mourners from the UK share why it’s worth the wait.
Jasper Colt and Hank Farr, USA TODAY
The line to Westminster Hall to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II has been halted as mourners have shown up in droves to see the U.K.’s longest reigning monarch lie in state.
A live tracker of the queue said it was “at capacity” Friday as waiting times reached 14 hours and the line stretched 5 miles from Parliament to Southwark Park in south London and then around the park.
Caroline Quilty of London said that she got to the line around 4 a.m. Friday.
“I think it is a moment in history, and if I did not come and celebrate it and see it and be part of it, I think I would really regret it,” she said.
After spending a day out of the public eye King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla traveled to Wales Friday. It is the final stop before they return to London for the queen’s state funeral Monday.
Soccer great David Beckham has joined the miles-long queue of people waiting to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state.
People spotted the former England captain in the line of mourners near Britain’s Houses of Parliament at lunchtime on Friday. He is believed to have joined the queue at 2 a.m. and to have lined up for more than 10 hours with thousands of others.
Officials temporarily halted people joining the back of the line on Friday after a park at the farthest end became full. People who arrived were directed to holding areas and slowly allowed to join the queue.
More: David Beckham stood in line for 12 hours to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state
Upon the news of the queen’s death Beckham remembered her reign on Instagram telling his followers how the news “saddened” him.
“How devastated we all feel today shows what she has meant to people in this country and around the world. How much she inspired us with her leadership,” he wrote. “How she comforted us when times were tough. Until her last days she served her country with dignity and grace.”
King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort, have arrived in Wales for an official visit. The visit began with a service at Llandaff cathedral in Cardiff and will include a meeting with Welsh parliament and stop by Cardiff castle.
For more than 50 years up to his mother Queen Elizabeth II’s death last week, Charles was the Prince of Wales — a title that has now passed to his son, Prince William.
The royal couple previously visited Scotland and Northern Ireland, the other nations making up the United Kingdom, following last week’s death of Queen Elizabeth II at age 96.
A steady stream of mourners continues for the third day of paying respects to Queen Elizabeth II, who is lying in state in Westminster Hall.
The crowds are the latest manifestation of a nationwide outpouring of grief for the only monarch most Britons have ever known, who died at her beloved Balmoral summer retreat Sept. 8 at age 96, ending a 70-year reign.
As the line has reached capacity people are being told not to join the line to view Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin. British officials said Friday morning that the organized line was at capacity and no one will be allowed to join it for at least six hours.
The line stretched for 5 miles (8 kilometers) from Parliament to Southwark Park in south London.
The government says the park is now full and entry to the queue is being “paused.” asking mourners to “not attempt to join the queue until it re-opens.”
All eight of Queen Elizabeth II’s grandchildren will stand vigil beside her coffin on Saturday as it lies in state at Westminster Hall. King Charles III and his siblings will stand vigil Friday evening.
Officials said Friday that Prince William and his brother Prince Harry, will attend the 15-minute vigil. William, who is heir to the throne, will stand at the head of the coffin and Harry at the foot. Both princes, who are military veterans, will be in uniform.
Also attending will be Princes Anne’s children, Zara Tindall and Peter Philips; Prince Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie; and the children of Prince Edward, Lady Louise Windsor and Viscount Severn.
The ceremony will follow a vigil by the queen’s four children on Friday evening.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pay their last respects by filing past the coffin during the lying-in-state, which began Wednesday and concludes Monday, the day of the queen’s funeral.
Prince William and Princess Kate, now Prince and Princess of Wales, Thursday greeted thousands of people outside Sandringham, the royal country estate in Norfolk.
The couple appeared outside the gates of the 20,000-acre estate to view the sea of floral tributes left for Queen Elizabeth II and to greet thousands of well-wishers..
William and Kate walked slowly along metal barriers as they received bouquets from the public and chatted to well-wishers.
Crowns and jewels: What did Queen Elizabeth leave behind in the House of Windsor’s estate
Jane Wells, 54, was among those who turned up and spoke to William, 40, about how he and brother Prince Harry, 38, walked behind the queen’s coffin with their father, King Charles III, and the king’s siblings, in the procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the start of the lying-in-state on Wednesday.
The walk yesterday was challenging,” William said, according to Wells.
“I said how proud his mother would have been of him, and he said how hard it was yesterday because it brought back memories of his mother’s funeral,” Wells told reporters afterward.
Sandringham is the monarch’s privately-owned retreat a few hours by train northeast of London. It’s where the late queen spent some of her childhood years and where she presided over many Christmas family gatherings.
Buckingham Palace has announced that two minutes of silence will be observed across the United Kingdom at the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral.
The funeral is to be held at Westminster Abbey on Monday, with some 2,000 guests attending, including visiting heads of state and other dignitaries on Monday.
The guest list for the state funeral is a roll-call of global power and pomp, from Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and King Felipe VI of Spain to U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
More: Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral details: When is it? Will it be on TV? Your questions, answered
After the funeral, the late queen’s coffin will be transported through the historic heart of London on a horse-drawn gun carriage.
It will then be taken in a hearse to Windsor, where the queen will be interred alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last year.
Contributing: Elise Brisco, Nicole Fallert, Maria Puente and Associated Press
