Officials introduce double queues through westminster hall so twice the number of mourners can pay respects to the queen at once – as queue stretches five miles into southwark park mourners in westminster hall now in two lines each side of the queen’s coffin originally, there was one single-file line each side but it was doubled yesterday change was made after fears delays could mean hundreds of thousands miss out the queue from westminster now stretches five miles and will take nine hours the queen’s funeral: all the latest royal family news and coverage by oliver price for mailonline ther/para_top.html –> the queue of mourners inside westminster hall was yesterday doubled to two lines each side of the queen’s coffin after concerns over delays. since the early hours of yesterday morning officials have directed queuers to form two columns either side of the late queen’s coffin, adorned with the imperial crown, so twice as many people can pay their respects at once. the huge volume of people wanting to pay their final respects to her majesty led to the decision to double the rate of flow, ensuring as many who wished to pay their respects were able. thousands of people are standing in nine-hour queue from westminster stretching nearly five miles eastwards along the thames to southwark park. the queue had further snaked even further through southward park, which a source said is the ‘end of the queue’, as of around 1am this morning according to the department for digital, culture, media & sport’s queue tracker. as mourners stand beside the queen lying-in-state, as she will do until her funeral on monday, many solemnly bow their heads as a show of respect to the late monarch, some stop and pray or pause in a moment of silence and reflection. single lines: the first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of queen elizabeth ii as it lies in state inside westminster hall, at the palace of westminster on wednesday evening double lines: members of the public yesterday were split into four queues, two either side of the queen’s coffin (split shown with red arrows), to speed up the flow of mourners after concerns over too few being able to pay their respects to the late monarch before her funeral on monday aerial pictures of the queue to see the queens coffin in westminster hall the queue to see the queen lying-in-state is currently 4.9 miles long stretching from westminster to southwark park – it expected to take nine hours to reach the front of the queue just after 5am yesterday an official in westminster hall can be seen directing mourners into four lines, two each side of the coffin, following a changing of the guard. the queue to pay respects to elizabeth ii is stopped every 20 minutes as the guards at each corner of the coffin can change. before the split lines were introduced, it was feared delays would mean that only 100,000 people would be able to enter the hall before the queen’s funeral – as opposed to the 350,000 which are expected to attend, a former senior official told the times. well-wishers were yesterday warned that they must join the queue by 12.30am on sunday in order to see the coffin, sources have today claimed. the queen will lay in state until 6.30am on monday, the day of the state funeral. the line to say farewell to the queen snakes through bermondsey in south london it is estimated the number of people set to make the trip could hit more than 350,000, with people from all over the world expected to visit london parliamentary sources also revealed they had stopped six well-wishers have attempted to smuggle their pets into westminster hall. the pet owners had apparently tried to hide their dogs under their coats as they entered the mourning area, it was today claimed. others have been seen bringing their babies to see the queen lying in state. meanwhile, pictures show paramedics appearing to treat exhausted well-wishers, some who have queued throughout today, to see the queen lying in state. it comes after a soldier guarding the coffin fainted during his stint. today one mourner was seen falling as he walked down the stairs of historic westminster hall towards the queen’s coffin. ahead of what is expected to be a peak point this weekend, more than 1.7million people have gone online to view the government’s live queue tracker on youtube which shows the end of the line as people wait patiently to enter westminster hall to see the queen’s coffin. paramedics have been called to treat people (pictured yesterday) waiting in the nine hour queue to see the queen’s coffin in westminster hall mourners early this morning had been waiting in line for around nine hours to see the queen the procession which took queen elizabeth’s coffin from buckingham palace to westminster hall arrived at 3pm yesterday a source said: ‘southwark park has been designated as the end of the queue. there have been barriers set up to facilitate a zig-zag queuing system. ‘anyone at the end of that queue in the park can expect to wait for up to 30-hours to see the queen in state. ‘we have to have a cut-off point, a time when we’ll have to unfortunately start turning people away. ‘that time will depend on the volume of the crowd and the flow rate on the route. at the moment around 2,000 people are being let into westminster hall an hour. ‘currently that time will be either very late on saturday night or extremely early on sunday morning. but the metropolitan police will have the final say. ‘we’ve obviously been preparing for this and anticipated that the crowd would come this far…just not this soon.’ pesach neussbaum, who flew to the uk from montreal, canada, on wednesday, described seeing the queen’s coffin this evening as a ‘very special and extraordinary’ experience after queuing for nearly six hours. he said: ‘i was thinking that even if i did not get there to westminster, and it turned out to be too far for me to walk, that i was still paying my last respects to the queen. ‘i just continued for five-and-a-half hours and to see it through makes me feel fulfilled. my wife shari – who is back in canada – is the biggest fan of queen elizabeth. i figured that if my wife were here, she would want me to continue. ‘the queen is an inspiration not just to myself but the entire world.’ with his medals proudly decorating his jacket, stephen swallow, 64, who served with the worcestershire and sherwood foresters regiment, joined the queue at 10pm last night. he only reached westminster hall to see the queen lay in state at 7am, having travelled from his home in mansfield, nottinghamshire yesterday. mourners (pictured in the early hours of wednesday morning) have been been waiting in line for around nine hours to see the queen members of the public wait in a huge queue to pay their respects to queen as her coffin lies in state inside the palace of westminster he said: ‘it was exhausting and i felt my legs about to buckle at one point but i felt it was my duty to come here. ‘i bought a small chair when my legs got really heavy and i just about managed to get through it by talking to others about the queen and the royals. ‘as soon as i got out of southwark tube station last night i joined the queue and stayed with the same group of people all night. ‘when i eventually reached the hall, it was very quick and very sombre. i didn’t just come for myself but for my two sons who were also in the military and couldn’t make it. ‘i bowed my head when i got to the coffin, said thank you for all the queen’s years of service and now i’m heading home. it’s been a long, tiring night and i’m exhausted.’ queen’s lying in state: what you need to know the queen is lying in state in london ahead of her funeral. here is some of the information mourners need to know. – what exactly is meant by the term ‘lying in state’? lying in state is usually reserved for sovereigns, current or past queen consorts, and sometimes former prime ministers. during the formal occasion, the closed coffin is placed on view, as thousands of people queue to file past and pay their respects. the coffin will be adorned with the imperial state crown, the orb and the sceptre. – when and where will the queen lie in state? the late monarch’s lying in state in westminster hall opened to the public at 5pm yesterday and it will be open 24 hours a day until it closes at 6.30am on monday, september 19 – the day of the queen’s funeral. – where is westminster hall? westminster hall, which dates back to 1099, is in the palace of westminster and is the oldest building on the parliamentary estate. it forms part of the westminster unesco world heritage site and the uk parliament website refers to its ‘great size’, the ‘magnificence’ of its roof, and its central role in british history. the building has been the site of key events, such as the trial of charles i, coronation banquets, and addresses by world leaders. – is there a big queue? yes. government guidance says there will be a queue which is expected to be very long, predicted to be in the tens of thousands. as it stands the queue is about nine hours long. people will need to stand for ‘many hours, possibly overnight’, with very little opportunity to sit down as the queue will be continuously moving. people are not allowed to camp and a wristband system is being used to manage the queue, with those waiting in line given a coloured and numbered one, specific to each person, allowing them to leave for a short period. ‘your wristband also allows you to leave the queue for a short period to use a toilet or get refreshments, then return to your place in the queue,’ according to the official guidance. – what will the queue route be? members of the public can join the line on the albert embankment, which runs behind the london eye onto the southbank before following the river past landmarks such as the national theatre, the tate modern and hms belfast, reaching ‘maximum capacity’ at southwark park. – will there be assistance for people who cannot queue for long periods of time? the main queue has step-free access with a separate accessible route also planned to run from tate britain where timed entry slots will be issued for a queue going along millbank to the palace of westminster. guide dogs will be allowed inside westminster hall, with sign language interpreters also on hand. venues including the southbank centre, the national theatre and shakespeare’s globe will open for longer hours to accommodate those queuing. the british film institute on the southbank will do the same while providing an outdoor screen with archive footage of the queen.