Sophie embraces well-wisher as she and Edward meet crowds in Manchester

The Royal Family fanned out across the UK to join a nation mourning their Queen today, with Kate and William viewing floral tributes at Sandringham, Sophie hugging well-wishers in Manchester and Anne heading to Glasgow to meet Union flag-waving crowds. 

With King Charles III enjoying a much-deserved rest at his Highgrove estate in Gloucestershire, other senior royals took up the mantle. 

The Prince and Princess of Wales spoke to several of the 1,000 or so people who gathered to greet them outside the Queen’s Norfolk estate, with William telling one member of the crowd he was ‘overwhelmed’ by the outpouring of support.  

Mourners have been paying their respects outside the estate’s ornate Norwich Gates around the clock since the Queen’s death last Thursday, and have left thousands of bouquets, cards and gifts. The Victorian mansion is close to the Prince and Princess’s country retreat at Anmer Hall.

Among the 20-deep crowd, retired shop owner Jeffery Malzer, 67, and his wife Ruth, 63, had travelled 4,000 miles from Milwaukee. Wisconsin, to pay their respects. ‘My grandfather served here in the USAF in the war and when we heard of the Queen’s death we knew we had to come,’ he told MailOnline. ‘People in the States love the Queen and it means a lot to us to be here. At least now I’ll be able to say I’ve seen the next King of England.’

In Manchester, an emotional Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, was seen embracing well-wishers as she and her husband, Prince Edward, viewed floral tributes in St Ann’s Square. They will also view the civic book of condolence at the city’s central library and light a candle in memory of the Queen at Manchester Cathedral.

Meanwhile, the Princess Royal, accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence, is visiting Glasgow City Chambers to meet representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron. Pictured showed her chatting to crowds outside before reading messages left on colourful bouquets. 

Meanwhile, thousands of people have continued queueing to pay their respects to the Queen in Westminster Hall, a sight the Archbishop of Canterbury described as ‘one of the most moving parts of the week’.

Justin Welby shook hands and posed for selfies with dozens of people who were waiting to view the Queen lying in state, and performed a blessing on a 10-year-old girl.

Among those to view the Queen’s coffin were Theresa May and Tanni-Grey Thompson. 

By 10am today, the queue leading up to Westminster Hall was around three miles long and stretched past London Bridge to HMS Belfast.

Before greeting those in line at The Victoria Tower Gardens in central London, the Archbishop said he was not at all surprised by the turnout and remembered the Queen as someone whose ‘wisdom was remarkable’.

He said: ‘She was someone you could trust totally, completely and absolutely, whose wisdom was remarkable, whose experience – I was the seventh Archbishop of Canterbury who she would have known – who really understood things and who prayed.’

Mr Welby also told reporters that seeing thousands of people flood to pay their respects had been ‘one of the most moving parts of this week’.

‘In one sense, the people here stand for all those in the country who would like to be here and can’t be,’ he said.

‘I think it shows a sense of deep affection for the stability that the Queen represented and gave us.’

Mr Welby added that he was ‘not in the least’ worried about a period of change under a new monarch and a new Prime Minister.

‘I’m very, very relaxed about that,’ he said.

‘His Majesty the King is deeply committed to sticking with the constitution, and it’s very clear that the shift happened seamlessly.

‘The strength of the way this country works is seen by the fact we lost both the prime minister and the monarch in a week and government just goes on.’

The Archbishop spoke to police officers and stewards who were manning the queue and paused to perform a blessing on 10-year-old Eva Garcia, who was in line with her father.

Eva, whose family are Anglican and moved to London from the US two weeks ago, told PA the moment was ‘very special’ to her.

Her father, Juan Garcia, 41, added: ‘Eva is our oldest and it was really amazing.

‘To have a leader of the church pray for your child in that way, I was very emotional.’

Retired nurse Alex Swinburne, 58, said she had been queuing since 4.20am and meeting the Archbishop had been a ‘spiritual moment’.

‘It was very special,’ she told PA.

‘The Queen represented the church, so I think it’s very important that they’re being represented here.

‘It felt like a spiritual moment before you go in at this stage, when we’ve all been queueing for so long.’

Christina Watson, 67, who used a walking stick and travelled from Sunderland to pay her respects to the Queen, said meeting the Archbishop was something she would remember for the rest of her life.

This morning, more than 1.3 million people logged on to watch the queue-tracker for the line.

The largely black-clad crowd were solemn and pensive as they flowed into the ancient hall where chandeliers and spotlights illuminated the scene beneath the medieval timber roof.

As hundreds of ordinary people of all ages filed past the coffin of the long-reigning monarch, many wiped their eyes with tissues.

Some bowed, some curtsied and some simply took a moment to look at the extraordinary scene.

Former prime minister Theresa May and her husband Philip were among those paying their respects to the Queen at Westminster Hall.

Yvonne Joseph, 57, and Curlette Edwards, 61, from London joined well-wishers at 8am on Thursday morning. 

‘It didn’t take that long, about 45 minutes to an hour,’ they said. ‘We went through the accessibility queue, it’s for people with disabilities that are seen and unseen. It was a totally separate queue. Everything ran in order. 

‘When we arrived we were fortunate to see the Changing of the Guard so we have an extra moment to pay our respects to the Queen.

‘We wanted to come and pay our respects because it’s just a historic moment, the Queen is like a mother and a grandmother to all of us.’

Neil Miller, 58, from Buckinghamshire, said that he wanted to pay his respects, as he has ‘watched the Queen’s speech ever year of my life at 3pm on Christmas Day’. 

‘She has done a great job for the country, and I wanted to come and pay my respects and say thank you,’ he said. ‘At 6.55am this morning, I joined the back of the queue and it’s been fine. Lots of banter and talk. I was told 10 hours I would be in the queue.’ 

Esbil Wong, 70, is from South Africa and was visiting her son in the UK when she heard news of the Queen’s death. 

She said she came to pay her respects because ‘I have been following her all my life.’ 

She said: ‘We are really honoured, I couldn’t miss this opportunity to be part of history. I love her.’ 

Ms Wong said she joined the queue at around 7am and had been queuing for about three hours so far. 

Rosalind Devlin, 59, a Navy wren, said: ‘It was one of the greatest moments of my life, we’re all ex-forces so to be able to pay our last respects to the Queen was a privilege.

‘It was exhausting but ultimately very rewarding. It was well worth waiting eight hours for.’

Yesterday the first people in the queue for the Queen’s lying-in-state ate pizza brought by the Archbishop of York after camping overnight and waiting hours to be granted access to Westminster Hall, where the fallen monarch will remain until 6.30am on Monday.

Their wait totalled 50 hours, after some arrived as early as Monday in order to maintain a place in the queue. They were chatting to their neighbours, making friends, sharing squashed egg sandwiches and cups of tepid tea. 

The coffin continues to be 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 also being given a coloured and numbered wristband to manage the queue. One mourner, Alan Davies, has been handing out biscuits to others queuing around him.

He said: ‘I got here around four and made sure to bring some supplies, I knew some people had been waiting far longer than I have, but it is moving fairly quickly. It’s the best example of how much the Queen meant to us all, queuing in the British weather, rain or sun, for days. Just to say one final goodbye.’ 

The queue could reach ten miles by Saturday night, with officials planning to implement three miles of airport-style zigzag lines in parks at the beginning and end of the seven-mile planned route.

It came after tens of thousands lined the streets of central London, many of them in tears, to watch the procession as King Charles, William and Harry reunited to mourn and march behind the coffin as part of its journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster at 2.22pm yesterday.

A short service was held involving members of the Royal Family, before members of the public were given access to pay their respects from 5pm.

The first member of the public to pay a personal tribute to the Queen told of how she fought back tears after experiencing ‘the most memorable and unique moment of my life’.

Vanessa Nathakumaran, 56, an admin assistant from Harrow, north west London, said she had to battle to control her emotions as the Queen’s coffin came into view.

She told MailOnline: ‘I was trying not to cry. I wanted to pay my respects in a dignified way but it was so hard. There were such mixed emotions. It was a privilege to be here but it was so sad and solemn. It was a moment that will live with me forever.

‘It was the most memorable and unique moment of my life. It was so quiet and peaceful and seeing her coffin it really came home to me that she is really gone. I curtsied when I went past and my eye was drawn to the crown on top of the coffin. I feel down wined and shattered.’

Amy Harris, 34, described the atmosphere in Westminster Hall as ‘breathtaking’.

Ms Harris, who travelled to London from Birmingham to join the queue at around 1am, said: ‘When you’re able to go in and have a moment to look at it and reflect…

‘The serenity of it – to be able to pay your respects in such a serene place, it’s very peaceful.’

James Cross, 65, who met Ms Harris in the queue, said: ‘It’s just like the only person that’s there is you.

‘You walk in and you could hear a pin drop.’ 

Those who braved the chilly evening told this morning how they had been waiting for up to nine hours to catch a glimpse of history.

With his medals proudly decorating his jacket, Stephen Swallow, 64, who served with the Worcestershire and Sherwood Forresters regiment, joined the queue at 10pm last night.

He only reached Westminster Hall to see The Queen lay in state at 7am, having travelled from his home in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire yesterday.

He said: ‘It was exhausting and I felt my legs about to buckle at one point but I felt it was my duty to come here.

‘I bought a small chair when my legs got really heavy and I just about managed to get through it by talking to others about The Queen and the Royals.

‘As soon as I got out of Southwark tube station last night I joined the queue and stayed with the same group of people all night.

‘When I eventually reached the hall, it was very quick and very sombre. I didn’t just come for myself but for my two sons who were also in the military and couldn’t make it.

‘I bowed my head when I got to the coffin, said thank you for all The Queen’s years of service and now I’m heading home.

‘It’s been a long, tiring night and I’m exhausted.’

Former Navy Wrens Wynne Matthews, Kim Williams, Kiki Sakelaropoulos and Rosalind Devlin had spent more than eight-hours waiting to pay their respects.

Ms Matthews, 58, from Birmingham, said: ‘We joined the queue at 10.45pm last night and got in to see the Queen lying in state just before 7am this morning.

‘By the time we joined the line it was already at Southwark Bridge but everything is organised well, there’s food, drink and toilets available all along the route.

‘The queue also keeps moving quite well, there were bottle necks as we came past Blackfriars and up Lambeth Bridge but it’s tough waiting through the night.

‘I’m exhausted but I’m glad I’ve done it and paid my respects to the Queen.’

Ms Williams, 64, who had travelled to London from her home in Somerset said: ‘We got to see the sunrise over London.

‘It’s quite gruelling but we stuck together and got each other through. Luckily the weather held off.

‘When we did eventually get in to see the Queen, it was very emotional and extremely extremely quiet. That’s what I noticed first, the silence, everyone was clearly in reflective mood.’

Three well-wishers who befriended each other during their eight-hour overnight wait to visit the Queen’s coffin are going for a pint after finally making it to Westminster Hall.

Amy Harris, 34, and Matthew Edwards, 35, met James Cross, 65, after travelling to London from Birmingham to join the queue at around 1am.

They described a sense of ‘camaraderie’ among the crowd, with people sharing snacks and drinks and ‘having a laugh’.

Ms Harris said: ‘We were asking for directions and (James) said ‘Follow me to the back of the queue’.’

Mr Cross said: ‘Everyone in the queue was very friendly, chatting and having a laugh. It was really quite lovely.’

Mr Edwards said: ‘Everyone was offering biscuits, drinks’, adding that the trio are now planning to have a drink together to quench their thirst after the long wait.

Bernadette Christie, 68, flew into the UK on Wednesday from Canada and plans to camp outside on The Mall for a full week, leaving two days after the Queen’s funeral takes place on Monday.

Ms Christie said she booked a flight to London from the Canadian province of Alberta two minutes after the Queen’s death was announced last week.

She added: ‘Thirty-six hours of no sleep and here I am. It’s crazy but it’s worth it.

‘The weather is similar to Alberta, everything is cold and damp.’

Ms Christie said that she wanted to show her respect to the Queen by camping outside Buckingham Palace in the colours of the Canadian flag: ‘She was the only leader on the planet that everybody knew, she was a grandmother to all of us.’

But anger has emerged as hundreds of thousands of people are having to stand in line for up to 30 hours while MPs can jump the queue to see the Queen’s coffin and bring in up to four guests.

And thousands continued to flow through the hall overnight, though, members of the public were left aghast when a guard fainted off the podium while holding vigil next to the coffin.

The man had moments earlier briefly stepped off the podium before retaking his place as other servicemen joined him for a changeover.

But seconds later he blacked out and fell forwards, landing sprawled on the stone floor to loud gasps from bystanders queueing to pay their respects.

The live stream also cut out for several minutes as police rushed to the man’s aid.

The Queen’s coffin, which has been placed on a raised platform called a catafalque, is being guarded around the clock by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division, or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.

Also among the first to see the monarch lying in state was Annie Daley. She told MailOnline: ‘I felt sorrowful being in there with the Queen’s coffin. I found it a shattering experience. The Crown was gleaming atop the coffin, as was the orb and sceptre.

‘When we approached the coffin, everyone was silent, it was so, so quiet. I looked round and the Yeoman guards were like statues.

‘We waited for days and when it came to it the whole experience was over in seconds, we went round the coffin once and down the stairs.’

Annie’s friend Grace Gothard, who was third in the queue and had also been there since Monday, broke down as she said: ‘It was very sad, it reminded me of when my own mother died.

‘I was taken aback to see the Queen lying in state, even though we’d been waiting three days to do so. May she rest in peace.’

Father Peter Walters and Pauline Allan, from Yorkshire, joined the queue at 1.20am on Thursday to pay respects at Westminster Hall.

‘There was a wonderful atmosphere, people were talking to one another quietly, sharing with one another, and there was even some laughter,’ Father Walters, a priest working in Colombia, said.

It was ‘immensely’ worth the wait, he said, with the final experience ‘very personal’ and different from viewing the coffin on the TV.

‘The atmosphere in there was one of of absolute silence, great reverence, great respect and great reflection. It was really a very memorable experience.

‘Everyone had the chance to pause – despite the queues, there was no great sense of rush.’

‘We had a good five minutes from entering to leaving, it was so slow and dignified,’ Ms Allan added.

Among the others to see the coffin first was Chris Imagidon, who had been queuing since 10am the previous morning. In television footage, he was be seen raising his top hat as he approached the coffin in a mark of respect.

In tears, Chris, who runs a programme for inner city children called Excellence in Education, told MailOnline: ‘It was so emotional, very poignant and well worth every minute that I waited.

‘It was only when I saw the coffin with my eyes that it struck me, she was gone, our Queen is no longer here. She was more than a Queen she was a mother to the whole nation.

‘I took my hat off as a sign or respect and tears came in my eyes. It was so very sad to see her like that but at the same time it was all very beautiful.

‘All I keep saying to myself is ‘she’s gone, she’s gone’ I still can’t believe it but my message is for people to come and say goodbye to her if you can. It’s the least people can do after 70 years of service.’ 

Mourners were given a coloured and numbered wristband which served as a record of when someone joined the queue.

It allows people to leave the line temporarily to use some of the 500 portable toilets and snack stops set up along the route before regaining their place.

Regular updates were provided on queue length and estimated waiting times to see the Queen as she lay in Westminster Hall, which has remained open for 24-hours.

Authorities had warned those queuing to bring a poncho or an umbrella but not large bags, flowers, flags, placards or food and drink.

The first people to view the coffin, which is adorned with the Royal standard and Imperial State Crown and was out on view early yesterday evening, had waited for up to three days, bedding down on the streets of South London in tents, sleeping bags and camping chairs.

However current guidance states: ‘You will need to stand for many hours, possibly overnight, with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving.

‘Large crowds are expected, and there are likely to be delays on public transport and road closures around the area. Check ahead, plan accordingly and be prepared for long queues.’

Ian Thompson, 55, from Beckenham joked: ‘It’s a very British tradition, queuing, and I have to say we do it best.

‘I joined the queue by the Anchor pub on the South Bank at about 11.15pm last night and I only got in to see The Queen’s coffin at 7.20am this morning.

‘But nobody pushed in, the wristband system worked well, there was plenty of toilets and places to eat and drink. The police were everywhere, I don’t think I’ve felt safer in London.

‘It was a privilege to do it, to be honest, despite queuing through the night. It was for The Queen.’

Emerging wearily from the black gates of the Palace of Westminster, Lorraine Woodhouse, 53, from London said she had joined the queue at 10.45pm last night and waited just over eight hours before she was able toview the coffin.

She said: ‘I joined the queue just before 11pm, thinking it was a good time to join the queue but there were thousands of people already in front of me.

‘Once you get over the fatigue, willpower gets you through. I wanted to overcome tiredness and pay my respects because The Queen did just that by serving the country right up until died even though she must have been in a lot of discomfort.

‘It was a moment of history and even though I need some sleep, I’m pleased I did it.’

Fitzgerald Etibio, from Canning Town, said: ‘The atmosphere in the hall was electric. It was quite a moment. It was a privilege to be able to take part in a part of history. It was overwhelming.’

James and Victoria Mottram travelled together from their home in Chislehurst in Kent.

James, 31, said: ‘It was very emotional. I found it quite striking and I think it summed up the complexity of the moment, the sorrow and solemnity of the Queen’s passing together with the comfort and reassurance that she’s now with God, her husband, her parents and sister.

‘There is a now longing for strength for the King as King and for comfort for the nation as a whole.’

Victoria, 27, admitted she broke down and wept when she saw the coffin and fighting back tears, added: ‘It was very profound. I’m struggling for words to sum up the experience.’

Delroy Morrison, 61, from London, who was fourth in the queue after arriving on Monday evening, told MailOnline: ‘The first night was okay but the second night was tough but we kept our spirits up with singing and talking.

‘I’ve loved The Queen since I came here in 1975 and have been to the last three jubilees and Harry and Meghan’s wedding.

‘Waiting all that time was worth every minute and when I walked in and saw the coffin and the crown I was so emotional. 

‘I had butterflies in my stomach and tears in my eyes it was a sad moment but a beautiful moment at the same time.’

Earlier, at 4am yesterday, the Archbishop of York entertained tired mourners camping along the Albert Embankment overlooking the Houses of Parliament entertained by singing hymns and even brought pizza which campers joked had probably been blessed – while a former soldier dressed impeccably in a bowler hat and polished shoes said he was keeping himself awake by rocking on his heels. 

The veteran told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I’m dressed like this because I served Her Majesty… 22 years in the Army. I figure the least I could do after 70 years is give her another day of my life, so come down here and pay my respects. I did spend a good couple of hours, maybe a little more attention to deal, knowing I’d be seeing Her Majesty again, put my medals on. 

‘I’d crumble my clothes if I was to [go to sleep]. It’s an old trick, literally just rocking back and forth on your heels, sips of water… and then crack on’.

An estimated 10,000 people were queueing past Waterloo station towards the Southbank Centre to pay their respects to the late monarch. 

The 10-mile queue begins on the Albert Embankment, along Belvedere Road, behind the London Eye. It will then cross Lambeth Bridge and travel along the South Bank past the National Theatre, Tate Modern and HMS Belfast. The back of the queue will be in Southwark Park.  

City Hall said all viewing areas for the procession are full, adding that people should instead head to Hyde Park to watch proceedings on large screens.

Officials expect some 400,000 people, some of whom have flown into the UK from abroad, will view the coffin – more than the 300,000 who filed past her father King George VI as he lay in state at Westminster Hall in 1952. 

But with between 750,000 and a million expected to want to pay tribute, fears are growing that as many as 650,000 could miss out. Many others may struggle to get to London due to the enormous strain that transport networks are set to come under. 

TfL bosses have warned the organisation is facing the ‘biggest event and challenge’ in its history, claiming that planning for the Queen’s lying in state and funeral is more complicated than the 2012 Olympics as it is ‘impossible’ to accurately predict crowd sizes.

There will be more than more than 500 Portaloos, 1,000 volunteers, stewards, marshals and police officers on hand at any one time as people queue for the Queen’s lying in state. There will be 779 professional stewards per shift, assisted by 100 civil service volunteer marshals, 40 adult scouts, and 30 members of the first aid nursing yeomanry, as well as Metropolitan Police officers.

There is further queue support from 10 members of the Red Cross, 30 multifaith pastors – co-ordinated by Lambeth Palace – and six Samaritans per shift. There will also be two British Sign Language interpreters in the accessible queue.

Overall, there are 140 Red Cross volunteers from every nation in the UK, 120 from the Scouts, 170 from the Salvation Army, 180 from the Samaritans, 600 from St John Ambulance, and then the wider deployment of military personnel helping with the overall ceremonial events.

Whitehall chiefs in charge of logistics for the historic five-night vigil have estimated mourner numbers could be close to the million people who turned up to view Pope John Paul II when he lay in state in Vatican City in 2005. 

Government guidance says the queue is expected to be very long, with people standing for ‘many hours, possibly overnight’ and with very little opportunity to sit down. 

People have been also warned off taking children to pay their respects, as the queue could become too arduous for them. 

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said organisers on the ground will make a decision on any ‘cut-off point’ once they see the ‘scale of people who are attending’.

Numerous people who gathered along the bank of the River Thames insisted on sticking out the poor weather conditions in order to pay their respects to the Queen. 

Some brought no waterproof clothing as they stood in the rain, while others donned plastic ponchos.

David Howard, who travelled to Buckingham Palace from Surrey with his wife Sue, likened the Queen to a swan – ‘always graceful on the surface, even if there were all sorts of thoughts and concerns underneath’.

Mr Howard, 59, said: ‘The thing that gets me about her is that she didn’t say anything to be popular, unlike politicians, and so when she did say things, there was a streak of authenticity and honesty, as well as through her actions and the way she lived.

‘I think she read the mood music very well after Diana’s death and realised things had to change. They became far more approachable and modernised, institutionally.’

He added: ‘She was like that classic swan – graceful on the surface, even there were all sorts of thoughts or concerns underneath.’

Michael Darvill, 85, had camped out since 2pm on Tuesday with daughter Mandy Desmond, 55. They camped out previously in the Mall when Charles and Diana married in 1981. 

Mr Darvill from Ascot, Berkshire, said: ‘It’s not been too bad. The afternoon yesterday was quite pleasant but as the evening wore on, there was a little bit of drizzle.’ 

The pair had slept on camping chairs huddled under a Union flag umbrella. Mr Darvill added: ‘I remember as a young man being among the crowds in London and watching as Winston Churchill’s cortèges rolled past. 

‘That for me that is the only comparable event to this. I think this is bigger and has attracted people from around the world. The Queen committed most of her life to service of this country and this is just a small way of saying ”thank you for all you’ve done”.’

Former member of the Balmoral Guard Duncan Rasor, who met the Queen while serving in Scotland, wore his military medals and Glengarry headdress as he queued for the lying in state.

The 48-year-old served in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and said: ‘I spent four months up in Balmoral valley and so I did get to meet the Queen and spend some time with her.

‘So, from a personal perspective, I wanted to come and pay my respects for everything that she’s done.’

He described spending time with the royal family as an ‘extraordinary privilege’ and added: ‘Even though they are on holiday up in Balmoral, they are still working, and it just never stops.

‘I think that is something which is starting to become more apparent to people is quite how hard Her Majesty has worked for her entire life.’

He served in the regiment between 1997 and 2002 and wore a Northern Ireland medal and a Kosovo medal.

Asked why he decided to wear his medals and Glengarry headdress, he said: ‘She was our Colonel-in-Chief so, having been part of the regiment, I could have come down without it, but I retired 20 years ago so I’m not a serving soldier, but it is a rare opportunity to put on a headdress and wear medals again and just be proud, I guess.’

William Single, 19, said he got up at 5am to travel from Coventry in order to secure a spot outside Buckingham Palace to pay tribute to the Queen.

‘I’m here because she served for 70 years and worked every day of her life, and I just want to say thank you,’ he said.

Stella Single, from Coventry, said she could ‘feel the difference’ in tone from other royal events as the thousands-strong crowd outside Buckingham Palace remained ‘sombre’.

‘It’s very quiet, whereas usually it’s quite loud,’ she said. ‘I can really feel the difference in the sound. My mum was a monarchist as well and I feel like I’ve lost a bit of her as well. I can’t stop crying.’

Kush Sonigra, who lives in the London area, is spending his 24th birthday in the queue for the Queen’s lying in state and hopes to make it back home in time for dinner with his family this evening.

After those waiting behind him in the queue sang Happy Birthday, he said: ‘Well, fortunately, from work I get the day off for my birthday, so I thought I’d get involved and see what the hype is about, get involved with the event.’

He added: ‘There’s a family dinner table so I’m hoping, depending on how late I finish here, I might be able to make it for that. Otherwise, we will postpone that to the weekend.’

He said his mother ‘is a little bit upset that I’m missing the family dinner, but I think she’ll understand’.

Chris Bond, from Truro, had attended the lying in state of the Queen Mother in 2002, and expected to have less of a wait to see Queen Elizabeth, after joining the queue at 7am on the other side of the Thames to the Palace of Westminster.

Mr Bond, wearing a black tie and jacket, said that in 2002, ‘I saw the procession pass by at Horse Guards Parade, and then by the time I made my way down, I actually started to queue right down by the Millennium Wheel and then took me six hours to progress from there.’

‘It was six o’clock when I walked into Westminster.’

He added: ‘Obviously, it’s quite difficult queuing all day long, but when you walk through those doors into Westminster Hall, that marvellous, historic building, there was a great sense of hush and one was told you take as much time as you like, and it’s just amazing.’

In preparation for the wait this time, Mr Bond had brought crisps, nuts and energy bars and bottles of water, and he said he was ‘well-equipped’ for the duration.

He said: ‘We know the Queen was a good age and she served the country a long time, but we hoped this day would never come.

‘But it has come, and I think undoubtedly she has been our most outstanding monarch.’

Joyce Dawson, 54, from Middlesbrough, has never visited London before, but said she was ‘inspired’ to travel down for the Queen’s lying in state after seeing the first people in the queue being interviewed on the TV news on Tuesday evening.

She said: ‘I texted my daughter and said ‘We have to go to London tonight’, so we’re here. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.’

She and her daughter Shelby, 26, who has also never been to the capital before, got on the midnight coach from Middlesbrough and joined the queue at about 8am.

Joyce added: ‘It’s just nice to be a part of this. It’s exciting, I’m dead excited, I’m like a little kid.’

Jacqueline Nemorin, Suzanne Howell, and Patricia King did not know each other before they joined the queue to attend the lying in state at the same time, at 6pm on Tuesday. They are 44th, 45th and 46th in line.

Ms Nemorin said the wait overnight was ‘really terrible’ due to the weather conditions, which she described as ‘raining cats and dogs’.

She added that she managed ‘a little cat nap’ at some point in the night, but her two new friends ‘didn’t sleep at all’.

They have been told that they will be allowed to cross Lambeth Bridge to do security checks at around 3.30pm, before being let into Westminster Hall to see the Queen’s coffin.

Suzanne Howell said a man who lives in a block of flats on the other side of the river had brought over camping chairs, a blanket and food for the trio.

Ms Howell said: ‘We were told that there would be like a million or millions of people expected and that it could be a 30-hour wait.

‘So that’s why I was saying I was so surprised when we arrived last night and we’re in the 40s (in the queue). I thought this can’t be the queue, I must be in the wrong place.’

She added: ‘We haven’t slept at all, but I don’t feel tired. We’re glad we did it, we’ve got no regrets.’

Amanda Drake, 63, who divides her time between Britain and her native Australia, set up her tent at 10pm last night. She came over to the UK in February for the Platinum Jubilee and is now among those waiting by Lambeth Bridge.

Clutching her blue sleeping bag and eating toast by her one man tent, she said: ‘This is a once in a lifetime event. The Queen meant so much to me, my mother and grandmother, who have now sadly both died, were staunch Royalists.

‘I camped out when the Queen Mother was lying in state 20 years ago so I knew this is what I had to do. I feel as though I’m representing my mum and grandmother, the three generations of my family. I divide my time between Sydney and London but I’ve been here in Britain since the Jubilee in February. I didn’t want to go back to Australia because the Queen looked quite frail and I has a feeling that she didn’t have long left.

‘Camping the night has been quite comfortable, I’ve managed to get some sleep and I’ve been talking to others who also camped out about the Queen’s life and her dedication to service.’

Consultant Louis Neves, 50, is originally from California but has been in the UK for the last 15-years and now lives in North West London.

He said: ‘I love the UK, I love the Royal Family. I’ve been here since midnight. Myself and a friend just brought down some chairs and we’ve been talking to strangers about the Queen, making new friends and trying to get a bit of sleep.

‘For me this is a one in a million event, I really wanted to be here. There’s maybe 150-160 people in front of us. I’ve always thought the Queen had a kind face. She’s represented continuity having been on the throne for so long but now she’s gone and we’ve got to look to the future without her. 

‘But I wanted to show my respects to what she meant for me and what she meant for the UK.’ 

However, Steven Welsh, 68, from Lancashire, said he will not head into London to see the Queen’s coffin procession because it will be ‘congested’.

Speaking outside Windsor Castle, he said: ‘It’ll be congested won’t it?. We will probably just hang around Windsor and watch it on the telly.’

He added: ‘I think to go there, there will be so many people there. I won’t be missing the funeral, I think a lot of people will just watch it on the telly.’

However, he said he had come to Windsor from his home in the North West to be ‘part of it’.

‘We’ve come down today to be part of it,’ he said. ‘We’ve been watching it on telly, but it feels more personal when you come down.’

It comes as the boss for Transport for London claimed the organisation is facing the ‘biggest event and challenge’ in its history.

Andy Byford said planning for the Queen’s lying in state and funeral is more complicated than the 2012 Olympics as it is ‘impossible’ to accurately predict crowd sizes.

TfL is ‘used to dealing with big crowds’ and will take measures such as temporarily restricting access to the busiest Tube stations and directing passengers to other stations to ‘spread the load’, he said. Mr Byford added that the situation is being managed ‘minute by minute’ from a command centre alongside other agencies and Government departments.

London Underground stations near Buckingham Palace have seen a surge in passenger numbers since the Queen died on Thursday.

TfL figures show more than 19,000 people started or finished journeys at Hyde Park Corner station on Tuesday, which was double the total on the same day last week. Green Park has been made an exit only station to prevent overcrowding. Across the Tube network as a whole, TfL recorded 2.99 million journeys on Tuesday, up 8 per cent compared with a week earlier.

Mr Byford said: ‘The most recent approximation or estimate is that there will be around potentially up to 750,000 people in the queue for lying in state, which is itself a huge number. But then if you take the whole 10-day mourning period and the various events that happen during that – obviously some happened elsewhere – but even the London element of that, we are talking well north of a million people.

‘So this is huge. This is the biggest event and challenge that TfL has faced in its history, and we must rise to that challenge.

‘The Olympics was a huge logistical challenge and operational challenge for TfL, which the company executed in magnificent fashion. But this is different. With something like the Olympics, you know what the events are, where they are, and you know what the numbers will be because it’s ticketed.

‘This is more challenging. It’s over a long period and although there are estimates, it is impossible to say with certainty how many people will turn up to the various elements, so we’ve assumed the highest possible number and we’re aligning our service to match that.’

A special service will run on the Elizabeth Line railway between Paddington and Abbey Wood on Sunday to ease the pressure on other parts of London’s transport network.

That section of the line – which was opened by the Queen in May – is usually closed on Sundays due to testing and software updates.

Mr Byford added: ‘We have recruited literally an army of people from across TfL. We’ve cancelled non-essential meetings. I’ve asked everyone to step up, I’ve asked everyone to volunteer, and the response has been fantastic. We’ve dropped everything in order to pull out all the stops and send Her Majesty off in style with an excellent transport offering.

With some royal fans already camping on The Mall, industry body UKHospitality said hotels had seen a major spike in bookings since the Queen’s death last Thursday, with block bookings for accommodation for extra police and other personnel contributing to this.

Some 10,000 police officers will be on duty daily this week – with Simon Morgan, a former Metropolitan Police personal protection officer for the Queen, saying that Met protection teams will be ‘stretched’.

Churches along the route will be asked to provide support to those waiting, with the Government’s Cobra emergency planning committee told that the estimate of queueing times is currently 17 to 35 hours.

A gazebo was donated by a member of the public to give shelter to the small group queueing when it started to rain on Tuesday, and it was claimed council officials were on their way to remove it. However, they eventually decided that the group could keep it up. 

Anne, 65, from Cardiff, who was the second person in line after arriving on Monday, said: ‘I will chain myself to the gazebo and call the leader of the Welsh Assembly if that happens. They can’t take it away.’

And a security guard told MailOnline: ‘A discreet word with the council was had and it was decided to let the gazebo stay up. It would have caused a bit of a scene and some red faces if it had come down.’

Downing Street said it is not aware of any ‘upper cap’ on the number of people able to attend the lying in state. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there are expected to be ‘long queues… running overnight over successive days’, with London ‘extremely busy’. But he said he does not think there is necessarily going to be a ‘cut-off point’, adding: ‘Those sorts of decisions (will) really (be) made by those on the ground once we see the scale of people who are attending.’

Asked if there is a maximum capacity, the spokesman said: ‘If there is, I’m not aware of a number. I mean, I wouldn’t get into detailed operational planning… but I’m not aware of there being some sort of upper cap.’

No10 added that there will be help for mourners unable to queue for long. The spokesman said: ‘A lot of people understandably will want to see the lying in state and we will do everything possible to facilitate as many people as possible, including those who may not be physically able to wait that long, because of disabilities, for example.’ 

Ms Nathakumaran, who is staying at a hotel in Lambeth so she does not miss the opportunity to pay her respects, said that she began ‘admiring the royal family’ from the age of 10 and has ‘a huge respect for them’. 

The administrative assistant, who grew up in Sri Lanka before moving to the UK to study in the 1980s, said she is going to call her daughters to change her bag and bring warmer clothes and glucose bars to keep her energy up.

On why she wants to see the Queen lying in state, she said: ‘Because she has done a good service. She was very devoted. She has done a service to our country, Britain and also international and the Commonwealth.

‘I do respect her way of kindness, how she treats everyone equal, the religions and the communities. She sees everyone as equal.’

On why she arrived so early, she said: ‘I really, really want to be part of it. I don’t want to miss it in case… they said they are probably going to control the crowds if (the queue) gets too long.’

Today, the Queen’s coffin was solemnly moved from Buckingham Palace to the ancient Palace of Westminster. 

The Imperial State Crown and a wreath of flowers was placed on top of the Queen’s coffin.

At 2:22pm, a procession took the late monarch from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall where she will lie in state.

The King followed the coffin on foot, joined by his sons the Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex, as well as the Duke of York, the Princess Royal and the Earl of Wessex. Anne’s son Peter Phillips and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence also walked in the procession, as well as the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl of Snowdon.

The Queen Consort, the Princess of Wales, the Countess of Wessex and the Duchess of Sussex travelled by car. There was a gun salute from Hyde Park during the procession, with one round fired every minute. 

Viewing areas for the public along the route opened at 11am on the day, with large crowds expected to attend.

The procession is set to arrive at Westminster Hall at 3pm.

A service lasting around 20 minutes was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury accompanied by the Dean of Westminster.

The lying in state opened to the public at 5pm yesterday and will be accessible 24 hours a day. Tens of thousands are expected to wait in the queue before walking past the coffin, which will be raised on a catafalque and draped in the Royal Standard, with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top.

It will be 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 will be joined by volunteers and stewards to manage the queue, while toilets and water fountains are provided at various points along the route. A wristband system will be used to manage the queue, with those waiting in line given a coloured and numbered wristband. Lambeth Palace is also expected to arrange a multi-faith pastor service to provide support to those who need it.

On Wednesday afternoon, the King led the royal family in a public display of homage by walking behind the Queen’s coffin during a procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall for the lying in state.

Charles then returned to his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire on Wednesday evening.

He will have a private day of reflection on Thursday and is not expected to attend any public events.

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.

The Prince and Princess of Wales will visit Sandringham to view floral tributes left by members of the public.

Thousands of people have visited the Norfolk estate to pay their respects, with tributes having piled up by the Norwich Gates to Sandringham House since news of the Queen’s death was announced last Thursday.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex will travel to Manchester, where they will light a candle in memory of the Queen at the city’s cathedral.

They will also view the floral tributes in St Ann’s Square and the book of condolence at Manchester’s Central Library.

The Princess Royal, accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence, will visit Glasgow City Chambers to meet representatives of organisations of which the Queen was patron.

Elsewhere, King’s Counsel will take part in a wreath-laying.

Senior barristers, now known as KCs instead of QCs after the proclamation of the King, have been invited to dress in robes and court mourning attire.

They will then gather outside the Old Bailey before walking to Gray’s Inn Chapel for the ceremony.

Fascinating past of Westminster Hall where the Queen will lie in state: Built in 1097 by son of William the Conqueror, it has hosted trials of Charles I and Guy Fawkes, Henry VIII’s coronation banquet and even Tudor TENNIS matches

For nearly a thousands years, Westminster Hall has stood as a beacon of the British state. 

Commissioned by King William II, the son of William the Conqueror, the hall was built in 1097 and is one of the few surviving parts of the original Palace of Westminster. 

Today, its importance was demonstrated once again as it hosted King Charles. He addressed MPs and Lords and told them he could ‘feel the weight of history’ on his shoulders, after they had given their own tributes to his ‘beloved mother’.

From Wednesday afternoon, the Queen‘s coffin will lie-in-state in the hall for four days until Monday, with up to one million people expected to queue to pay their respects.   

Westminster Hall was originally built by King William as a banqueting hall and then became England’s main administrative centre from the 12th Century onwards.

It has hosted the trials of Guy Fawkes, King Charles I and churchman Thomas More, who was executed by Henry VIII. Henry’s coronation banquet – in 1509 – was also held there. 

In 2002, the Queen Mother’s coffin lay in state there and an estimated 200,000 people filed in to pay their respects. The body of King George VI also lay there for three days in 1952, with around 300,000 filing past.

In 1920, two leather tennis balls dating from Henry’s time on the throne were found by workmen in the hall’s rafters. 

The discovery raised the tantalising prospect that Henry himself may have played what was then known as Real Tennis in the hall. The infamous king is known to have enjoyed the sport at Hampton Court, his palace in Richmond. 

Westminster Hall also been the setting for speeches by Charles De Gaulle, Nelson Mandela, Pope Benedict VI, and the then US President Barack Obama in 2011.

According to Parliament’s website, King William II – better known as William Rufus – commissioned Westminster Hall with the intention of impressing his new subjects. He had succeeded his father as King of England in 1087, after the older man’s death.

At 240 feet long and 67 feet wide, it was the largest hall in England and probably Europe when it was built. 

The hall was so large that other halls were needed nearby for normal banquets and events. The royal household, who lived in the Palace of Westminster, would have usually eaten in a smaller hall nearby.

Its walls were six feet thick and largely remain today, although have been refaced over the decades. 

In 2006, a renovation project aiming to level eight of the huge flight of stone steps in the hall found fragments of the ancient King’s Table, which was used by 17 monarchs over the course of more than 300 years. 

At the table, monarchs would be acclaimed by their lords before their Coronation in nearby Westminster Abbey.

They would also enjoy lavish coronation banquets and breakfasts. Henry VIII’s coronation banquet in 1509 was one such event.

The roof was originally supported by two rows of pillars but in 1399 Richard II wanted to make the hall more impressive by making it unsupported.

It was a challenge met by carpenter Hugh Herland and architect Henry Yevele, who built huge hammer-shaped oak beams and strengthened the walls.

In the 14th century the hall became a centre of London life, housing the law courts and selling a host of legal paraphernalia including wigs, pens and books.

Before being gruesomely executed, Guy Fawkes was put on trial in the hall along with his fellow Gunpowder Plot conspirators in 1606. 

King Charles I’s trial in the hall then came in January 1649, after Royalist forces had been defeated in the English Civil War. The king was subsequently beheaded.

During its use, Westminster Hall has twice escaped destruction.

In 1834, a fire caused by a stove overheating razed the rest of the Palace of Westminster to the ground but the hall survived.

During the Second World War it escaped harm once again when when German bombers dropped a dozen bombs on the neighbouring House of Commons chamber in 1941. 

It is reported in Brewer’s Politics that Tory MP Colonel Walter Elliot broke down the hall’s oak door after the bombing with an axe, shouting: ‘Let the pseudo-Gothic go. We must save the Hall!’

The historic roof and the hall were saved although Elliot could simply have opened the side door kept unlocked for emergencies.

Despite the hall being used as the location for several royals and former prime ministers to lie in state, the Queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, did not follow suit after his death in 2021.

The decision was in line with his wishes.

The hall has also been used for celebrations to mark important moments in British history, such as the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, Golden Jubilee in 2002 and Diamond Jubilee in 2012.