British Ministry of Culture: The waiting time to view the coffin has reached 25 hours, please do not come

At 1 a.m., the website that monitors the queue set up by the British Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport for the benefit of the public reached an average waiting time of 25 hours - a queue of eight kilometers. The ministry issued a warning that no more people should join the queue. Despite the warnings, people continued to arrive, bringing beer and pizza with them , coffee and bananas

Tali Goldstein

09/17/2022

Saturday, September 17, 2022, 10:31 am Updated: 10:47 am

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Waiting times to enter Westminster Hall to pass Queen Elizabeth II's coffin reached 25 hours overnight as hundreds of thousands of mourners braved temperatures as low as 7C.

At 1 o'clock in the morning on Saturday, the site that monitors the queue set up by the British Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport for the benefit of the public reached an average waiting time of 25 hours - a queue of eight kilometers. The ministry issued a warning that you should not join the queue but check on Saturday morning for updates.

Despite the warnings , people continued to reach the end of the queue in south-east London. According to "Sky News", some people came prepared for a long wait and brought with them pizza and beer, water, bananas and chips. Others thermoses of coffee.

Yesterday, King Charles, his brothers, Princes Andrew and Edward and his sister, Princess Anne, stood in a guard of honor before the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, and their mother.

Behind, stood the cousins ​​and other family members.

After about fifteen minutes, the guard changed, and the king and his family left the hall.

Today the Queen's grandsons, Prince William and his brother Prince Harry, are expected to stand guard.

Yesterday evening a man was arrested by the police who tried to "run towards the Queen's coffin" in the hall.

"The man pushed my seven-year-old niece, ran to the closet, removed the Royal Miracle and tried to do... I don't know what," eyewitness Tracey Holland told Sky News.

The police said that "at 10 o'clock at night on Friday, the officers arrested a man for disturbing the public. He is in custody."

King Charles in the guard of honor of the coffin (photo: official website, Twitter)

Preparations in Britain for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on September 19 are in full swing.

Full details have not been released yet.

The day will begin with a prayer at Westminster, after which a motorcade will pass around London before a final family service at the chapel at Windsor Castle.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take to the streets to watch the procession, and huge screens will be set up in the royal parks to broadcast the events.

Today was declared a bank holiday in the country.

The funeral is expected to be held at Westminster Church at 11 a.m. local time (1 p.m. Israel time).

A king's funeral has not been held in the church since the 18th century (although the Queen Mother was buried there in 2002).

In the same place, the wedding of the Queen with Prince Philip was held 75 years ago, and there a prayer of thanksgiving was held for the prince after his death last year.

The hall can hold 2,000 people - and will be full of family members, around 500 international leaders, politicians, monarchs from other countries, public figures and people who have worked with the Queen.

The day will begin with the carrying of the coffin from the hall to the church on top of the gun carriage which will be pulled by a company of sailors of the Royal Navy.

The trailer was last seen in 1979 at the funeral of Prince Philip's uncle, Lord Mountbatten.

King Charles and other family members are expected to follow the coffin.

The funeral will be conducted by David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, officiating.

Prime Minister Liz Truss will be invited to read prayer verses.

After that, the coffin leaves the hall in a foot convoy and will pass by the corner of Hyde Park, where it will be placed in a hearse and will drive to Windsor.

The final journey of the coffin will be on the road that leads to Windsor Castle.

The King and family members will join the motorcade before the casket is taken to St George's Church for prayers.

St. George's Church is the church usually chosen by the royal family for events such as weddings, christenings and funerals.

Harry and Meghan got married there, as well as Prince Philip's funeral was held.

The coffin descends into the burial chamber before being buried in St. George's Chapel, alongside King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's father;

the queen mother;

her sister Margaret;

and her husband Prince Philip.

On video: A two-day queue - British residents and tourists wait to pass the Queen's coffin (Reuters)

The procession on the day of the Queen's funeral, on September 19, is expected to be one of the largest in the country and poses enormous security challenges to the authorities.

Royalty, presidents and leaders from all over the world will attend the funeral.

French President Emmanuel Macron is the latest so far to confirm participation.

The President of the United States, Joe Biden, spoke with King Charles yesterday "and conveyed to him the great admiration of the American people for the Queen".

The London "Times" reported that British Prime Minister Liz Truss will have a private conversation with Biden and other leaders on the sidelines of the funeral.

A quarter of the 2,000 seats in Westminster Abbey are reserved for heads of state and their spouses.

Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Japan's Emperor Naruhito are among the more famous leaders to attend.

The President of India (and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi) will also attend the funeral.

Some leaders chose to pass the invitation to a lower level of foreign ministers.

Turkey said it would be represented by the foreign minister and not President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Foreign leaders will fly to London at the end of the week.

The British Foreign Office asked the leaders to arrive on commercial flights to avoid overcrowding, but Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that he would use the government's private plane and bring with him at least four leaders from island nations in the Pacific Ocean.

Details of Biden's arrival have not yet been released, but he is expected to use his own means of transportation as well as a security team.

In addition, Biden will not have to travel on a bus that will be dedicated to driving the leaders to Westminster Abbey.

On Sunday, the King will hold a reception at Buckingham Palace.

Afterwards, Foreign Secretary James Calverley will host them at nearby Church House.

The royal family will make their way to Windsor for the funeral.

Leaders scheduled to address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, September 20, including Biden, will fly from Britain on Monday to New York. It is not yet clear whether representatives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, which are all ruled by royal families with close ties to Britain, will arrive. Saudi King Salman is not expected to attend - and if the kingdom decides to send a representative, it will be his son Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince. The rulers of Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Russia, Belarus, and Myanmar have not been invited. The leaders of North Korea, Iran, and Nicaragua have been asked to send ambassador-level representatives. .

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