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Access to the queue to see Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin has been temporarily barred as officials warn the area in southeast London, where the line starts, has “reached capacity,” even as wait times amount to 14 hours.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined up to pay their respects to the longest serving monarch as she lies in state for a second day, but authorities have said Brits will need to wait six hours before more can join the line.
People wait in a queue in front of Tower Bridge to pay their respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II as her coffin lies in state in Westminster Hall, London, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
“Southwark Park has reached capacity,” the U.K. government said Friday. “Please do not attempt to join the queue until it re-opens.”
Access to the line was not immediately blocked and people continued to jump in, according to reports from The Guardian, with one attendant saying they had not officially received word they needed to bar access to mourners.
There was some apparent confusion as the line was closed by authorities at 12:05 p.m., London time, before being reopened for a time 13 minutes later, allowing a stream of people to enter.
Members of the public file past the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign’s orb and scepter, lying in state on the catafalque, in Westminster Hall, at the Palace of Westminster, in London, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, ahead of her funeral on Monday.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, Poo)
It appears the gates have once again have been closed. They are expected to reopen at 4 p.m. in London.
It is unclear at the moment if another queue to join the main line has been formed.
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People wait in a queue opposite Westminster Palace to pay their respect to the late Queen Elizabeth II as her coffin lies in state in Westminster Hall, London, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.
(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The line has extended nearly five miles from Westminster to Southwark Park with a reported 14-hour wait time according to several London-based outlets Friday.
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Though the BBC reported on Thursday that mourners could wait for as long as 30 hours before they reach Westminster.
The queen’s body will lie-in-state at Westminster Hall until she is buried Monday.
