Despite the queue to see the Queen lying-in-state reaching full capacity for the first time, leading to wait times of more than 24 hours, mourners have remained in high spirits.
Government advice for most of the day was to stay away from Southwark Park, the end point of the queue, but mourners still flocked to pay their respects.
This meant ‘the queue for the queue’ formed throughout the afternoon and as of 5:05pm, DCMS tweeted that members of the public gathering this evening should expect a wait lasting until Saturday evening.
With young and old alike desperate to share in a final moment of collective Elizabethan history, nine-year-old Lucas Fisher alongside dad Geoff and new friend Denise Colley, 59, shared their experiences of the long wait to Westminster Hall.
Godwin Odusami, 47, had racked up a double-figure wait time when he gave his account, saying his queue neighbours were like family.
Given the prolonged period of time mourners were expecting to spend in the queue, arrangements were being made on-the-fly to change shift patterns to ensure they didn’t miss their opportunity to mark the first state funeral in 70 years.
Delivery driver Kathleen Stanford, 52, from Eastbourne was adamant she would stay until the bitter end as the occasion meant so much.
Videos courtesy of reporters Theo Burman, Olivia Christie, Noah Keate and Ishita Srivastava
