LONDON (AP) — Thousands of mourners waited for hours Thursday in a line that stretched for nearly 4½ miles across London for the chance to spend a few minutes filing past Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin while she lays in state at Britain’s Parliament. King Charles III spent the day in private to reflect on his first week on the throne.
The queue to pay respects to the late queen at Westminster Hall was at least a nine-hour wait, snaking across a bridge and along the south bank of the River Thames beyond Tower Bridge. But people said they didn’t mind the wait, and authorities rushed to offer services like portable toilets to make the slog bearable.
“I’m glad there was a queue, because that gave us time to see what was ahead of us, prepared us and absorbed the whole atmosphere,” health care professional Nimisha Maroo said. “I wouldn’t have liked it if I’d had to just rush through.”
A week after the queen died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after 70 years on the throne, the focus of commemorations was in Westminster — the heart of political power in London. Her coffin will lie in state at Westminster Hall until Monday, when it will be taken across the street to Westminster Abbey for the queen’s funeral.
Buckingham Palace on Thursday released details about the service, the first state funeral held in Britain since the death of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1965. Royalty and heads of state from around the world are expected to be among the 2,000 people attending, with a smaller burial service planned for later Monday at Windsor Castle.
The queen will be buried Monday in a private family service at Windsor alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last year.
