To the chagrin of those made to wait, MPs may bypass the line and bring in up to four visitors to see the Queen’s casket.
MPs and peers are permitted to enter the lying-in-state while hundreds of thousands of people must wait in line along the Thames for up to 30 hours.
To enter Westminster Hall, where the late monarch’s casket is kept until her formal funeral on Monday, they just need to provide their Parliamentary security cards.
MPs who were there for the Queen’s coffin’s arrival yesterday are also entitled to four timed admission passes, which will save friends and family time.
Some of the tens of thousands of people standing in line for their little opportunity to pay their respects last night criticised their exceptional treatment.
Another person said that giving MPs four free tickets was improper, adding, “They shouldn’t be allowed any.”
They need to be permitted to wait in line like everyone else in their own time, according to one lady.
Thousands of police officers participating in the largest security operation the nation has ever seen will not have the opportunity to pay a visit to the person who is laying in state, it may be disclosed. Officers have been instructed not to enter Westminster Hall while on duty nearby and are not given special access to the building.
In a statement to the Daily Mail last night, a police source said: “It’s regrettable but not unexpected that MPs are permitted to skip the line while the hundreds of police officers working 12-hour shifts with postponed vacations won’t have any opportunity to say farewell.”
The fact that MPs’ staff members do not have priority access as their bosses and Commons officials did caused them to become irate as well.
Parliamentary staff members may enter by displaying their credentials and may request one guest ticket each.
As members of Her Majesty’s Parliament, we were dismayed to learn that the chance to pay our last respects to our late sovereign has been restricted to just certain categories of pass holders, the Spectator reports.
This was what a group of Conservative staff members wrote in a group chat.
According to sources, 140 members of the House of Commons and 140 members of the House of Lords were invited to see the Queen’s cortege arrive at Parliament yesterday before the general public was given access.
Following the event, several posted images of the order of service to social media.
Jonathan Reynolds, a senior Labour MP, tweeted his invitation with a black border and wrote: “It was an honour to represent my constituents today at this magnificent event and time in British history.”
I really hope that everyone who wants to pay their respects during the lying-in-state may do so.
As he and his wife Annie paid their respects in Westminster Hall to Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Conservative MP Laurence Robertson tweeted: “Annie and I have been honoured and fortunate to do so today.”