Queue to see the Queen’s coffin begins early shutdown as thousands wait 14 hours

ONE of the queues to see the Queen’s coffin is beginning to shut down early as thousands are set to wait 14 hours.

In a Twitter post at 4.30pm it was announced the accessible queue has reached full capacity, and is permanently closed.

EPA

One of the queues to see the Queen lying-in-state has reached full capacity and closed[/caption]

AP

It comes after the general public queue was temporarily closed when the wait time reached more than 24 hours yesterday[/caption]

The Westminister Hall is set to remain open for the public to view Her Majesty lying-in-state until 6.30am tomorrow, ahead of her state funeral.

But, all the time slots for the accessible queue for the next 14 hours have been filled.

In the social media post, by the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport (DCMS), said: “The accessible queue for Lying-in-State has reached full capacity and is now permanently closed.

“Wristbands for all time slots are allocated so that as many people as possible can pay their respects.

“Please do not join the queue at Tate Britain. Thank you for your understanding.”

According to the DCMS’s Live Queue Tracker, the general public queue is also nearing capacity as the wait time is sitting at 12-and-a-half hours.

The accessible line closure comes after the general public queue was suspended yesterday after the wait time climbed to more than 25 hours.

Officials were forced to make the call as it stretched more than five-miles long, and reached capacity.

Entry later resumed, but at about 1.15am this morning the DCMS online tracker urged Brits not to make the journey.

At 5am, they said the queue was at “near total capacity” and may have to be paused again if it became full.

But as of 9am, the expected wait time fell to 16 hours.

Those in line were warned to brace for cold weather, as temperatures dipped below 7C.

Undeterred, a steady stream of people joined the queue, many wearing coats, and jumpers and wrapped up in blankets.

Then, mourners got a huge boost when King Charles and Prince William surprised them to thank them for waiting up to 26 hours to pay their respects to the Queen.

Hundreds of royal fans in line in Lambeth, South London, applauded as the 73-year-old Monarch and his son emerged together.

Many took photos and pressed against the metal barriers, eager to exchange a word with the pair.

A body language expert said the royals would have got just as much out of meeting the mourners as the crowds did.

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Hundreds of queueing royal fans got the opportunity to meet Prince Williams and his father King Charles earlier today[/caption]

Getty - Pool