Colour-coded and number-coded wristbands were handed out to the line of mourners which already stretches to Westminster Bridge and back to Southwark Park, where there are three miles of metal fencing. A live online map will show the route and estimated wait times, which authorities warn could be up to 30 hours. An airport-style security check will take place near the Palace of Westminster. Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin is seen during a procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster in Westminster Hall Photo: Vadim Ghirdă/AFP/Getty Images But while a crowd safety expert involved in the planning of previous royal events said authorities had been preparing for decades, he expressed concern that members of the public might underestimate the scale of what awaited them. “We’re talking about the challenge of having so many people from a very large age group, perhaps with large sections leaning towards the elderly, who will be on their feet for more than a day and it’s the kind of endurance that an athlete can find difficult, even before weather conditions are taken into account,” said Professor Keith Still, visiting professor of crowd science at the University of Suffolk and an expert in crowd safety. Where members of the public will line up to see the Queen lying in state “My fear would be that they have grossly overestimated their ability to stand for that long,” he told the Guardian. The troops are expected to support more than 1,000 dedicated volunteers, airmen and Metropolitan Police officers, who will be on hand to keep those waiting in the hours-long queue safe. Updates on the start of the queue and expected length will be displayed on large screens along the route, as well as on the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s social media. Disabled people have been advised to join a separate queue at Tate Britain. At any one time, those joining the mourners will include: 779 professional airmen, 100 volunteer Civil Servant Marshals, 40 adult Scouts, 30 members of the Yeomanry First Aid, 10 Red Cross volunteers, 30 multi-faith pastors, six Samaritans two volunteer British Interpreters Sign Language. Additional police and troops will also be on hand, but no numbers have been given. About 500 portable toilets have been set up along the route with people handing out colour-coded and number-coded wristbands to allow them to leave the queue to get food and drink and retake their seats. When mourners arrive at the front at Lambeth Bridge, they will be taken in batches to Victoria Tower Gardens to be screened by security and asked to turn off all phones and deposit large bags. The measures taken by police include the deployment of snipers and a warning from the Met against anyone using drones without permission in an area covering much of central London. Instructions for those in the queue state: “Flight attendants and police officers will patrol the queue. Antisocial or inappropriate behavior (including queue jumping, excessive drinking or drunken behavior) will not be tolerated and you will be removed from the queue.” Color-coded and number-coded wristbands were handed out along the line of mourners Photo: Matthew Chattle/REX/Shutterstock Mourners will be able to pass the coffin until 6.30am on Monday, but Steele suggests there could be challenges when authorities have to decide to cut the queue. “It’s going to be imperative to keep the crowd informed, like how long it’s going to be and the marshals have to keep communicating with the crowd even if they don’t have anything new to tell. “One of the huge challenges of large crowds, particularly with social media, is that they are so well-connected and even prone to malicious information or misinformation, so it’s important to keep calm. We’ve also seen some isolated instances of protest, and while they may not happen again, it will be important to keep in mind how a crowd might react to something like that.”
