Time running out to join queue of mourners to Queen Elizabeth

Bloomberg

Time was running out on Sunday for tens of thousands of people still hoping to pay respects to Queen Elizabeth II by joining a miles-long queue to view her coffin at Westminster Hall.
The British Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said that a decision will be taken later on when entry to the line will close, as it reaches final capacity. The lying-in-state is due to end at 6:30 am on Monday to leave time to prepare for the funeral ceremony at Westminster Abbey beginning at 11 am.
“Queue times are already 13.5 hours and may increase,” the government said. “To avoid disappointment please do not set off to join the queue.”
World leaders, including US President Joe Biden, and European royalty have been arriving in London for the funeral. They will have a chance to meet
the new monarch when King Charles III hosts a reception at Buckingham Palace.
After the funeral, Elizabeth II’s coffin will be taken to Windsor Castle, west of London, where a committal service will take place. The Queen, who died on September 8 aged 96, will be buried within the King George VI Memorial Chapel at Windsor, next to her parents and sister.
For now, her coffin lies guarded by iconic “Beefeaters” and other members of Britain’s military elite in the oldest part of Parliament.
Elizabeth II’s death has been followed by days of backward-looking pageantry mixed with soul-searching about the future, as Britain confronts an economic crisis and uncertainty about its place in the world after Brexit.
But in the queue that has snaked more than four miles out of Westminster and along the bank of the River Thames, there’s been a more optimistic narrative. There are hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, some prepared to queue for more than a day to glimpse the late Queen lying-in-state.
The ad hoc ritual was “one of the most moving parts of the week,” the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said in a BBC interview. Crowds cheered as King Charles III and Prince William made a surprise visit on Saturday to thank queuers. Britain’s new monarch and his heir, now the Prince of Wales, spent more than half an hour shaking hands and exchanging words with well-wishers.
The government laid out a route of about 10 miles (16 kilometers), including zig-zags, to accommodate queuers over four days.