Queen Elizabeth II funeral: Thousands of mourners join miles-long queue for Westminster Hall

Thousands of mourners are continuing to join the miles-long queue in London to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II as she lies in state at Westminster Hall.

Many have queued overnight for the chance to file past the monarch’s coffin. By Thursday morning, the queue was around three miles long and stretched past London Bridge to HMS Belfast.

Police officers, volunteers and stewards are managing the queue, with people waiting in line given a coloured and numbered wristband.

The coffin, which sits on a catafalque and is draped with a royal standard, continues to be accompanied at all hours by units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London. One of the guards suddenly collapsed overnight, with nearby officials quickly rushing to his aid after he appeared to faint.

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Former prime minister Theresa May and her husband Philip were among those paying their respects on Thursday morning.

Final preparations for the funeral are taking place in London as thousands of military personnel took part in a full rehearsal for the procession of her coffin from Westminster Hall to Wellington Arch.

The rehearsal took place before sunrise on Thursday morning, and saw a gun carriage, towed by almost 100 naval personnel and bearing a black coffin, travel from Westminster Hall, on to Westminster Abbey, and then through central London.

The sound of bagpipes began at 2.45am, signalling the start of the procession and echoing through the quiet streets of the city.

At around 5.20am, the sound of brass playing God Save The Queen rang out from under the arch, before the state hearse departed through the Apsley Gate of Hyde Park. Beethoven’s Funeral March and the hymn Jerusalem were also played.

On Wednesday afternoon, King Charles III 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.

The king then returned to his Highgrove home in Gloucestershire on Wednesday evening. He is not expected to attend any public events on Thursday.

The state funeral will take place in Westminster Abbey at 11am on Monday, before the procession makes its way to Wellington Arch and then on to Windsor Castle. A committal service will then be conducted in St George’s Chapel in Windsor. — PA