Thousands continue to queue to see Queen as grandchildren mount vigil

Thousands of people have continued to queue on Saturday to pay their final respects to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as the royal grandchildren mount a vigil.

It comes after the new monarch requested that the Queen’s eight grandchildren participate in the vigil, which saw them stand in quiet contemplation around their grandmother’s coffin for 15 minutes as a mark of respect.

King Charles III, the Princess Royal, the Duke of York and the Earl of Wessex spent around 15 minutes paying their own personal tributes to the Queen’s coffin as it her body lay in state on Friday.

Thousands of people have continued to queue along the banks of the River Thames to pay their final respects, as mourners have been warned of long wait times.

On Friday morning, the line of those seeking to attend the late monarch’s lying-in-state at Westminster Hall reached 4.4 miles long.

Shortly before 6am the estimated queuing time was at least nine hours, but by 7am that had jumped to 11 hours as it extended to Bermondsey Beach.

The queue was to remain open to members of the public for 24 hours a day until 6.30am on the day of the Queen’s funeral on Monday, September 19.