“She gave us 70 years - I can give her a few hours”: We spent a day at the queue like no other

Mile after mile, hour after hour, mourners are trekking across London to pay their respects to the Queen. Her lying in state continues today (September 15) at the Palace of Westminster following her death last Thursday, aged 96.

The Queen’s lying in state opened yesterday at 5pm, with a sea of mourners filing past her coffin at Westminster Hall ever since, and the queue is expected to continue until the occasion ends on Monday morning. At 11am today, the queue was taking around two-and-a-half hours to get from the back to Westminster Bridge, where mourners were told to expect a further three-hour wait.

But as the day went on, the line continued to tail back - beyond Southwark Cathedral, Tower Bridge and towards Bermondsey. “It’s just paying my respects, however long we wait,” Jacky Clare, 61, told the Manchester Evening New s.

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“She gave us 70 years - I can give her a few hours.” It was the stoic attitude that summed up mourners throughout the queue, all eager to pay their own tribute to the monarch who served the country longer than any other.

Jacky, from Higham in Kent, was stood in line with Liverpool-born Noreen Gemmell. The 74-year-old had been in the queue from 1.30pm, two hours before speaking to the M.E.N. and still yet to get her wristband.

She had been told to expect a queue of 10 to 12 hours by marshals. “It’s to show my respects to the queen,” said Noreen.

“I hadn’t realised it was 20 years since I came to see the Queen Mother lying in state. I had to come for the Queen.” Jacky added: “She’s always been part of my life, I’ve never known any other monarch.”

The fact that ambulances