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Mourners determined to pay their respects to Her Majesty have brought the ashes of their dogs and loved ones to see the Queen’s casket, while veterans paid a moving final salute to the late monarch.
A member of the public was spotted Friday morning with a dog wrapped under her arm at Westminster Hall in the Queen’s state.
Daily Mail TV’s live feed of the Reclining Queen at 10:40am shows a woman holding something resembling a Chihuahua as she queues to pay her respects to the late monarch.
Yesterday, a parliamentary source told the Daily Mail that officials have stopped six mourners from entering Westminster Hall after they were caught smuggling their dogs hidden under coats.
While pets are not allowed in Westminster Hall, service dogs are allowed inside.
Woman seen today with small dog in the Queen’s State at Westminster Hall
Man delivers moving final salute at Queen’s berth in Westminster Hall on Friday morning
Veteran salutes Queen’s coffin Friday morning as he pays his respects to late monarch, who died last Thursday
Meanwhile, a veteran was seen paying a heartbreaking final salute to the Queen’s coffin as he paid his respects to Her Majesty on Friday morning.
The gentleman, dressed in military uniform, was seen making the gesture of respect at Westminster Hall after queuing for hours to pay tribute to the Queen, who died at her Balmoral estate last Thursday, at 96. age.
Another mourner who queued through the night told the BBC how she brought her mother’s ashes to pay her respects to Queen Elizabeth II.
A woman named Mandy traveled with her family from Manchester to line up to see Her Majesty on duty.
She said they started queuing around 8pm yesterday and paid their respects around 4.45am.
Mandy (pictured right) told the BBC she had brought her mother’s ashes to the Queen’s berth
Mandy, who described herself as a “royal family,” said she decided to take her late mother’s ashes with her because she was “truly patriotic.”
After attending Charles and Diana’s wedding and the Queen Mother’s funeral with her own mother, Mandy said she “swore” she would attend the Queen’s funeral.
She said, “I actually brought my mother’s ashes with me because we lost my mother two years ago and she was really patriotic, a royalist.”
The ‘queue of all queues’: entrance to the queue at Southwark Park was closed after it reached capacity on Friday morning
On Friday morning, the line for the Queen’s berth, called “the Elizabeth Line,” was closed for at least six hours after she got nearly five miles in length.
The queue is currently closed for ‘at least six hours’ after Southwark Park reached capacity on Friday morning
Those at the end of the line would have to wait at least 14 hours to pay their respects to Her Majesty, according to the live tracker of the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sports.
The government said in an update just before 10am: ‘Southwark Park has reached capacity.
‘Access will be paused for at least 6 hours. We apologize for any inconvenience. Try not to queue until it opens again.”
On the third day the Queen was able, those queuing along the south bank of the River Thames were told the wait had increased to ‘at least 14 hours’ and 7.9 miles to Southwark Park in Bermondsey .
The government had warned just an hour earlier: ‘If the park fills up, access to the queue will be paused. If you haven’t left to join yet, consider waiting for the number to dwindle.”
And the line for people to enter Westminster Hall has now doubled to two rows on either side of Her Majesty’s casket, amid concerns about delays.
Since the early hours of yesterday morning, officials have ordered mourners to form two columns on either side of the late Queen’s coffin, adorned with the Imperial crown, so that twice as many people can pay their respects at once.
The sheer number of people wishing to bid farewell to Her Majesty led to the decision to double the flow rate so that as many people as possible who wished to pay their respects were able to.
The line — which people have been joining since Monday and which opens at 5 p.m. on Wednesday — now takes more than half a day, but many say the long wait was worth it.
The mourners said “breathtaking” serenity awaited them at Westminster Hall, where “you could hear a pin drop” in the silence.