30 000 mourners file past coffin
2002-04-06 08:54
London - Westminster Hall in central London, where Britain's Queen Mother is lying in state, was to remain open throughout the night to allow thousands of queuing mourners to pay their last respects,
officials said late on Friday.
The authorities had planned to close the mediaeval hall at 18:00, but changed their minds after up to 30 000 mourners
joined a queue to file past the Queen Mother's coffin, undaunted by
a six-hour wait.
Earlier, crowds estimated at 400 000 by police lined the streets of the capital as her coffin was borne on a gun carriage to
Westminster Hall in a lavish royal ceremonial tribute on a scale
not seen her husband King George VI died in 1952.
The Queen Mother, matriarch of the British royal family, died
last Saturday aged 101.
The funeral procession led by senior royals was the grandest
pageant of its kind since that for wartime prime minister Winston
Churchill in 1965.
Members of the public will be able to visit Westminster Hall
until 18:00 on Saturday, when it will close for two hours before
re-opening. The hall will be open until Tuesday, when the Queen
Mother's funeral service takes place.
The original plan had been for Friday's public viewing to be
between 14:00 and 18:00. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA