People queuing to see the Queen's lying in state will be banned from camping but will be given wristbands to mark their place in the line. The information comes as infrastructure has been set up in preparation for miles of people queuing for the Queen’s lying in state in Westminster Hall.
Security staff manning the queue route to Westminster Hall told the PA news agency that crowds are expected to swell ahead of Wednesday afternoon. They said the queue is likely to snake for miles, all the way along the southside of the River Thames to Tower Bridge.
People will not be allowed to camp and will be given numbered wristbands to indicate their place in the queue so they are able to leave and come back, it is understood. As of 9am on Tuesday, pedestrians have been walking freely up and down the route but it still appears fairly empty of people arriving early to queue.
From 9am on Tuesday, private security staff and stewards in hi-vis vests and Metropolitan Police officers are stationed along the route, where people will be able to queue from 5pm on Wednesday to see the late monarch’s coffin.
It stretches from Parliament’s tourist entrance, Cromwell Green, down Millbank, past the Lords and Victoria Tower Gardens, across Lambeth Bridge and loops back north on the other side of the River Thames. Portaloos and crowd control infrastructure like barriers and flooring have been now set up in to Victoria Tower Gardens.
Full details of the route will be published at 10pm on Tuesday.
