Mourners face 30-hour queuing time to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth
Mourners have been warned they face queuing “overnight” to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth.
The 96-year-old monarch died at her Scottish estate Balmoral last Thursday and from 5pm on Wednesday, her body will lie in state in Westminster Hall, where members of the public will be able to file past the coffin 24 hours a day until the morning of her funeral on 19 September, but they face having to wait up to 30 hours to do so.
Guidance issued by the government said: “Please note that there will be a queue, which is expected to be very long. You will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight, with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving.”
They also advised members of the public to consider the length of the queue – which is predicted to reach up to five miles long – “before you decide to attend or bring children” and warned there may be road closures and delays to public transport.
Players and Officials paid their respects ahead of today's game at Headingley as cricket honours Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. pic.twitter.com/AAbsbrcbOo
— Yorkshire CCC (@YorkshireCCC) September 12, 2022
A portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II and a condolence book at the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
📸: Annice Lyn pic.twitter.com/WcCoGqHEmf
— Princess of Wales News (@HRHPWales) September 12, 2022
King Charles to lead family in procession
King Charles will lead the royal family in a procession behind Queen Elizabeth’s coffin in Edinburgh on Monday.
The body of the queen – who died on Thursday at the age of 96 – will be taken from the Palace of Holyroodhouse to St Giles’ Cathedral, where her family will join a congregation at a service of thanksgiving for her life, and the new monarch is set to embark on the journey on foot.
Members of the public will be able to view the queen’s coffin to pay their respects for 24 hours before it is taken to London for a period of lying in state ahead of her funeral on September 19.
Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor’s titles not changed yet
The children of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, are able to use HRH titles if they wish now that their grandfather, King Charles, is monarch.
But a royal spokesperson said they were awaiting confirmation about how the children would be known.
Archie, 3, and 15-month-old Lilibet, who are sixth and seventh in line to the throne respectively, are noted as “Master and Miss”.
Prince Charles becomes king, William gets Prince of Wales title … and Prince Andrew gets the dogs
On Sunday, a spokesperson for Prince Andrew said he and Sarah would take on Queen Elizabeth’s pets, Muick and Sandy.
The dogs were a gift from Prince Andrew during lockdown to keep the queen entertained while her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, was in hospital and she was staying in Windsor.
