‘An experience I’ll never forget’: Overwhelmed mourners weep after seeing Queen's coffin as queue reaches four miles

15 September 2022, 12:31 | Updated: 15 September 2022, 12:54

Emotional mourners wept, prayed and saluted after their nine-hour wait to see the Queen's coffin came to its close.

By lunchtime today, hundreds of people had passed through ancient Westminster Hall paying their respects to Her Majesty as she lies in state.

Some mourners are waiting for nine hours as the queue stretches for almost four miles along the Thames and past Tower Bridge.

Organisers are prepared for the ever-growing queue to stretch for up to 10 miles, from the Palace of Westminster to Southwark Park. The original planned rout of seven miles will be extended with airport-style zigzag lines in parks to accommodate the huge numbers of people trying to pay their respects.

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With thousands continuing to wait in line, concerns are growing the queue could be closed as early as Saturday night, when officials will have to decide no-one else will be able to make it in time to see the Queen ahead of the end of the lying-in-state period at 6.30am on Monday.

The government has launched a live queue tracker to give mourners an idea of how long they will have to wait. Launched by the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, the tracker, available on YouTube, shows that the queue is now stretching to almost four miles long.

Inside the hall itself, some nodded and bowed at the coffin, others stood briefly in quiet contemplation, and others meanwhile were seen crying and comforting each other as they were overwhelmed by their grief.

Her Majesty The Queen's Lying-in-State | Queue Tracker

Penny Purnell, aged over 65, from Littlehampton, West Sussex, said seeing the Queen lying in state drove home that she "really has gone", adding: "That was quite hard to take." Ms Purnell and her friend Jill Scudamore, also aged over 65, joined the queue at about 11am on Wednesday and waited six hours to pay their respects. Ms Purnell described the "grandeur" of the hall and the atmosphere as "very moving" as she spoke to the PA news agency afterwards.

Ms Purnell said: "It was just the thoughts in our head of appreciating her really. I didn't really want to say goodbye, so I didn't."

Amma, in her 50s from London, said she was incredibly tearful as she approached the coffin. "As I went closer to where Her Majesty was lying there, I did curtsy, I said thank you in my mind. I broke down in tears as I walked away from her."

Chorus greets coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it is brought into Westminster Hall

The coffin is guarded at all hours by units from the Sovereign's Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.

Metropolitan Police officers, volunteers and stewards are managing the queue while toilets and water fountains are provided at various points along the route.

People waiting in line are being given a coloured and numbered wristband to manage the queue.

It is the first night people can pay their respects to the Queen after the ancient hall opened at 5pm on Wednesday.

Valerie Prebble, 68, and her partner Neil Emberley, 67, who have travelled from Maidstone, Kent, said the queue was sociable and they met several people. Mr Emberley, dressed in his Scout uniform, said it was "very emotional for someone that we've known all our lives and also she's a patron of the Scouts, so I had to come and pay my respects".

Some have even travelled across the Atlantic to pay their respects. Joseph Arujo, 18, from Los Angeles, said he wanted to come to London to witness "this moment in history". He said he queued for six hours and made friends in the line, but once he got into the hall it was "a whole other experience".

"It was very - I would say - tranquil was the best word, it was a lot of silence and everyone almost mourning with the royal family, taking it in what was happening and realising the Queen was right in front of you."

The former prime minister Theresa May, with her husband Philip, have also been to pay their respects along with other Members of Parliament. Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, along with other Members of the House of Lords, have also been spotted saying farewell to the Queen.

Elsewhere, King Charles has now retreated to his Highgate Home after the procession of the Queen's coffin into Westminster Hall yesterday evening. In the detailed planning for the aftermath of the Queen's death - known as "London Bridge" - a day was set aside at this point for the new monarch to have some time away from public duties.

The period will allow the King to pause, but it is understood he will be working in preparation for his new role and will already be receiving his red boxes of state papers.