Queen Elizabeth funeral: Mourners to view Queen’s coffin at Westminster
A staggering number of people will file past the Queen’s coffin as she lies in state in London. Here’s how you can pay your respects to the monarch from home.
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People in Australia are being encouraged to hold a one minute’s silence “at home, on their doorstep or street” at 8pm on Sunday.
Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister, released details of how the UK will mark the Queen’s passing with a minute’s silence at that time.
But they encouraged those living overseas to also take part at 8pm their time.
In the UK the event was designed as a national moment of reflection.
“At 8pm on Sunday September 18, the night before the state funeral, there will be a one-minute silence where the public are invited to come together and observe a national moment of reflection to mourn and reflect on the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II,” he said.
“The silence can be marked privately at home on your own or with friends and neighbours, out on your doorstep or street with neighbours, or at any locally arranged community events and vigils.
“We encourage local community groups, clubs and other organisations to mark this moment of reflection. And if you are overseas, people are encouraged to mark the silence at their local time.”
It comes as mourners in unprecedented numbers are queuing for up to 20 hours to pay their last respects to the Queen.
Officials are predicting more than three quarters of a million people will travel to Westminster to file past the Queen’s coffin as she lies in state, according to The Times.
In comparison, 200,000 queued to see the Queen Mother’s coffin in 2002.
On the day of the funeral itself, which is next Monday, some are predicting there will be two million people on the streets of London to witness the historic event, dwarfing every other royal funeral to date, including that of Princess Diana in 1997, when an estimated one million came out.
Around 10,000 police are expected to help manage the crowds, which could be a “target for terrorists”, according to former Met Police chief superintendent Parm Sandhu.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme: “London could potentially be full. We are expecting to have people queuing for 12, 15 hours at a time just to file past the coffin, which is a real concern because crowds attract criminals”.
She said it could be busier than it was for the 2012 Olympic Games or for the funerals of the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.
“I don’t ever remember London expecting to be full in this way, even with the Olympics,” she said.
“The crowds themselves will be a target for terrorists. The funeral itself will be a target for terrorists”.
She added: “All the services are going to be stretched and with the queues that are going to be right across central London, you could have streets that are going to be quite difficult to walk down.”
There will be security in place to protect dozens of world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, royals from across the world and other VIPs, from possible terrorist attacks.
The British government released guidance for people thinking of travelling to London, admitting that it could become “full” for the first time.
Travel operators have been warned to have plans in place to stop passengers from boarding overland trains or trains on the underground, if crowds in the capital become unmanageable.
For those planning to view the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall, from 5pm, Wednesday local time, to 6.30am on the day of the funeral, September 19, the government advised that people may need “to stand for many hours, possibly overnight … as the queue will keep moving”.
It also set out guidelines on how people should behave and what they should wear, saying they should remain silent inside the Palace of Westminster.
It urges people to “dress appropriately for the occasion to pay your respects”, banning clothes “with political or offensive slogans”.
Other black-listed items include “placards, flags and advertising or marketing messages”.
“Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately,” it said.
Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be booted out of the line by stewards and police patrolling the lines.
Visitors will also face airport-style security checks, with tight restrictions on what can be taken in.
The strict rules hope to stop any protesters from getting inside, following a couple of small incidents in Edinburgh that marred proceedings on Sunday.
Flowers, tributes, candles, flags, photos, hampers, sleeping bags, blankets, folding chairs and camping equipment are all banned, with only one small bag with a simple opening or zip permitted per person.
The Queen’s closed coffin, draped in the Royal Standard with the Orb and Sceptre placed on top, will rest on a raised platform, called a catafalque, and guarded around the clock by a vigil of units from the Sovereign’s Bodyguard, the Household Division, or Yeoman Warders of the Tower of London.
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Windsor Castle was a sea of more than 100,000 mourners, with twice that number expected for when the Queen makes her final journey home next week.
The Long Walk, where Prince William and wife Kate and Prince Harry and wife Meghan had inspected the tributes, was flooded with people on Monday Australian time.
The Queen’s coffin will travel along that same road next week after her funeral, where she will be buried in St George’s Chapel in a private ceremony inside the castle walls.
Colin Rayner, a former mayor of Windsor, said the town was expecting twice as many people for when the Queen’s coffin was returned.
“When Harry and Meghan were married, we stopped counting at 200,000 people, this will be bigger than that,” he said.
Mr Rayner, 64, who was having a drink in the Prince Harry pub in Windsor, said the death of the Queen was devastating.
“We just cried when we heard the news,” he said.
“But we’re relieved because King Charles III has stepped up to the plate. It took us seven weeks to find a new Prime Minister but only a second to get a new Head of State.”
Tens of thousands lined Windsor High Street to watch a marching band, before Mayor Christine Bateson, officially farewelled Queen Elizabeth and welcomed King Charles III.
A town crier then led a stirring rendition of God Save the King, with the patriot crowd joining in.
Some children sat on two-metre high windowsills to get a better view of the ceremony in front of the Queen Victoria statue, which stands in the shadows of the castle.
Emma Shepherd, 34, said: “The Queen was a special person, she was the link to the older Britain when it still was an Empire and to the modern Commonwealth today.
“I’m not in the slightest surprised by the crowds today, London is going to be 10 times bigger next week.”
Added layers of security and crowd control were in place at the weekend, with mourners forced to walk 15 minutes to get to Cambridge Gate to lay flowers.
The Long Walk had a constant stream of people throughout the day.
Leanne Watson, of Surrey, took her daughter Sophia, 2, to pay her respects.
The toddler laid a sunflower among the thousands of fresh bouquets, which put a beautiful smell in the air.
“I just felt that we had to be here, the Queen was special,” she said.
“I just lost my grandmother recently so this has brought it all back up.”
Events crews were setting up barriers, portable toilets, and water carts in preparation for the crowds expected for the Queen’s final journey home after her funeral.
stephen.drill@news.com.au
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Originally published as Queen Elizabeth funeral: Mourners to view Queen’s coffin at Westminster
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