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Harry Fletcher
Sep 16, 2022
Devoted Queen fan queues and visits monarch's coffin seven times
BBC
Thousands of people are gathering in London to pay their respects to the Queen, with a queue stretching back miles from the late Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall.
Many have been queuing for hours overnight, with some mourners saying they waited up to nine hours to reach the Palace of Westminster.
The queue has become a talking point all of its own over the last few days after the Queen’s body was first moved to the hall this week.
It’s moving at around 0.5 miles per hour, with the British Film Institute having set up a big screen showing clips from documentaries about the Queen’s life to people waiting under Waterloo bridge.
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People in the queue have been given wristbands when they join so they’re able to leave temporarily to get drinks or refresh themselves.
The lying-in-state period will go on until 6.30am on Monday, 19 September.
\u201cIf you\u2019re British, this is the queue you\u2019ve been training for all your life. The final boss of queues.\u201d— Jof (@Jof) 1663105123
People have been sharing their experiences of the queue on social media, as it becomes the most talked about thing in the news ahead of the funeral on Monday.
It even has its own dedicated YouTube channel with a live tracker for people to follow.
Others, meanwhile, have been reacting to the queue - one of the most quintessentially British things they've seen in a long time.
\u201cThis is a great thread about The Queue #TheQueue\u201d— louise otterwell (@louise otterwell) 1663226225
\u201cThe queue to see the Queen lying in state at Westminster now stretches *several miles* along the Thames. It\u2019s growing by the second.\n\nAnd this is just the back half of it!\n\n@SkyNews\u201d— Matthew Thompson (@Matthew Thompson) 1663164262
\u201cHow has no one called the queue the Elizabeth Line\u201d— Danielle Blake \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Danielle Blake \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1663184638
\u201cThere are two types of people in the UK right now:\n1. The people in the queue\n2. The people watching the queue with fascination\u201d— Emma Henderson (@Emma Henderson) 1663190712
\u201cIf you watch every episode of "The Crown" back-to-back, it takes 28hrs 58minutes, which means if you do it in the queue and take an hour for lunch, you'll arrive at her coffin perfectly on time to be a 'live' final episode.\u201d— Pundamentalism (@Pundamentalism) 1663179312
\u201cimportant to remember that at some point this weekend, the queue to see the Queen lying-in-state is going to intersect the queue to get into Heaven, and i cannot wait to see the havoc that will produce\u201d— Alex Bell (@Alex Bell) 1663106891
\u201cAs a south-of-the-river person, I hereby gift everyone in the queue for the Queen's lying in state a map of all the decent pubs en route (or very close to it)\u201d— Lizzie Dearden (@Lizzie Dearden) 1663155066
\u201cWhat are the broadcasters going to do now, interview everyone in the queue for five days?\u201d— Brendan May (@Brendan May) 1663173635
\u201c#BBCBreakfast \n\n\u201cWhy are you here?.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe thought this was the queue for Alton towers nemesis\u2026\u201d\u201d— J.R.Hartleys\u2019 Armchair (@J.R.Hartleys\u2019 Armchair) 1663220518
\u201cHere\u2019s a poem called \u2018The Queue\u2019.\u201d— Brian Bilston (@Brian Bilston) 1663222597
\u201cThe end of The Queue\u201d— sue#NHSLove\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99#FBNHS (@sue#NHSLove\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc99#FBNHS) 1663185884
The queue to view the Queen’s lying in state has shortened overnight, reaching Blackfriars Bridge, as a steady stream of people continues to join the queue along London’s South Bank as the day begins in the capital.
The city is preparing for an influx of visitors over the next few days as people come to pay their respects.
Transport for London says Westminster will be "exceptionally busy”, with people asked to avoid driving into London if possible.
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