Crowds queue for Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin as King Charles III spends quiet day

LONDON — Hundreds of mourners lined up by way of the night time to file previous the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Parliament’s Westminster Corridor on Thursday, as King Charles III spent a day in non-public to replicate on his first week on the throne.

The queue to see the queen mendacity in state stretched for 3.1 miles Thursday morning, alongside the south financial institution of the River Thames after which over a bridge to Parliament. Hundreds within the line did not thoughts the hours of ready.

“I am glad there was a queue as a result of that gave us time to see what was forward of us, ready us and absorbed the entire ambiance,” stated well being care skilled Nimisha Maroo. “I would not have appreciated it if I would needed to simply rush by way of.”

After a day of excessive ceremony and excessive emotion because the queen was borne in somber procession from Buckingham Palace, the king was spending the day in “non-public reflection” at his Highgrove residence in western England.

Charles has had calls with U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron and is talking to a bunch of world leaders – a lot of whom will come to London on Monday for the queen’s funeral.

PHOTOS: Queen Elizabeth II’s life by way of the years

Inheritor to the throne Prince William and his spouse Catherine, Princess of Wales, will go to the royal household’s Sandringham property in jap England to see a number of the tributes left by well-wishers.

On Wednesday the queen left Buckingham Palace for the final time, borne on a horse-drawn carriage and saluted by cannons and the tolling of Massive Ben, in a solemn procession by way of the flag-draped, crowd-lined streets of London to Westminster Corridor.

Charles, his siblings and sons marched behind the coffin, which was topped by a wreath of white roses and her crown resting on a purple velvet pillow.

The army procession underscored Elizabeth’s seven a long time as head of state because the nationwide mourning course of shifted to the grand boulevards and historic landmarks of the U.Ok. capital.

The 900-year-old Westminster Corridor is now the main focus of occasions, because the queen lies in state till Monday. Hundreds have already paid their respects, submitting previous the casket draped with the royal commonplace and topped with a diamond-encrusted crown.

MORE: Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Sept 19 at Westminster Abbey. This is all the pieces we all know.

Individuals young and old, wearing darkish fits or denims and sneakers, walked in a gradual stream by way of the historic corridor, the place Man Fawkes and Charles I had been tried, the place kings and queens hosted magnificent medieval banquets, and the place earlier monarchs have lain in state.

After submitting previous the casket, most mourners paused to look again earlier than going out by way of the corridor’s nice oak doorways. Some wiped away tears; others bowed their heads or curtseyed. One sank onto a knee and blew a farewell kiss.

Keith Sensible, an engineer and British Military veteran, wiped away tears as he left the corridor. He had waited greater than 10 hours for the prospect to say his goodbye.

“All people within the crowd was impeccably behaved. There was no malice, everyone was associates. It was implausible,” he stated. “After which, to return into that room and see that, I simply broke down inside. I did not bow – I knelt to the ground, on my knees, bowed my head to the queen.”

The late-night silence was damaged when one of many guards standing vigil across the coffin collapsed and fell ahead off a raised platform. The person, his chest adorned with medals, could possibly be seen on livestreams of the queen’s coffin mendacity in state swaying on his toes earlier than pitching ahead onto the ground. Two law enforcement officials rushed to his help.

Crowds have lined the route of the queen’s coffin every time it has been moved in its lengthy journey from Scotland – the place the monarch died Sept. 8, aged 96 – to London.

On Tuesday night time, hundreds braved a typical London drizzle because the hearse, with inside lights illuminating the casket, drove slowly from an air base to Buckingham Palace.

Earlier, in Edinburgh, about 33,000 folks filed silently previous her coffin in 24 hours at St. Giles’ Cathedral.