THE queue of mourners waiting to pay their final respects to the Queen stretched to more than three miles today, with hundreds of thousands more expected in the coming days.
By 10am, the end of the line had snaked far along the Thames to Tower Bridge, with some mourners telling the Standard they had queued for around eight hours for the opportunity to see the ceremonial lying-in-state in Parliament's Westminster Hall.
This morning, more than 1.3 million people logged on to watch the queue-tracker. Those visiting the hall today bowed and curtsied, while some wearing military uniform and medals saluted the Queen's coffin. Others wept as they walked slowly through the silent hall. Despite the long queues, mourners said it had been worth the wait.
John Jago, 87, from Wiltshire, was attending his third lying-in-state. He said: "I came for the lying-in-state of Churchill, when the queue was two hours. The Queen Mother was about three hours. This is of different proportions and rightly so the Queen was an amazing woman." Robert Shaw, 74, made the drive from his home in Herne Bay, Kent, last night and began queueing at lam. He entered the Great Hall just after 8am.
He said: "I hadn't planned to come but when I saw the miles-long queue on the news I knew I had to pay my last respects. It has been a long night but I don't regret it at all. She meant everything to this country. She has always been there in my life. I was thinking about the continuity and service supplied as I walked through." Another mourner, Bernadette Christie, 68, said she flew into the UK yesterday from Canada and plans to camp outside on The Mall for a full week.
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