LONDON: Mourners from all walks of life filed past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth through the night as she lay in state in London’s ancient Westminster Hall, paying their final respects to Britain’s longest-reigning monarch before her funeral on Monday.
After days of processions and ritual as the queen’s body was brought to London from Balmoral, Scotland, where she died last Thursday at the age of 96, this was the opportunity for ordinary people to take a direct part in a ceremony.
The queues stretched back several miles along the south bank of the River Thames, past landmarks such as Tower Bridge and a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, crossing Lambeth Bridge as it neared Westminster Hall. (AFP)
As King Charles returned to his Highgrove home in the southern English region of Gloucestershire after days of scheduled events, officials expected some 750,000 people to view his mother’s coffin before the lying in state ends at 6.30 a.m. (0730 GMT) on Monday. The queues stretched back several miles along the south bank of the River Thames, past landmarks such as Tower Bridge and a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, crossing Lambeth Bridge as it neared Westminster Hall. People waited many hours.
Thomas Hughes, 20, who waited nearly 14 hours overnight with his brother, said finally viewing the coffin was overwhelming.
Many stopped by the coffin to bow their head. Others wiped away tears. (AFP)
“You do it all because you want to pay respect to this lady … and I think when you put yourself through that, and then you get to the moment you’re waiting for you are just that little bit more emotional,” he said. “It’s a very powerful thing.”
Most were Britons but some were from overseas. They were young and old, and included former soldiers in military medals and babies being carried by their parents. Many stopped by the coffin to bow their head. Others wiped away tears.
Some were there to represent elderly parents, others to witness history and to thank a woman who, having ascended the throne in 1952, was still holding official government meetings just two days before she died.
