Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature Geneva Abdul In the early hours of Thursday morning, people were already pacing to join the line near Tower Bridge, winding from Westminster Hall, for the Queen to lie in state. Among those who tried to join the line were Sheila and Steven Rudd, who came out to pay their respects to the Queen. They took the train from Carshalton this morning. “We’ll see how it goes,” Sheila said of the estimated 10-hour wait. “Keep our fingers crossed!” Her husband was intubated. Members of the public queue to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state. Photo: Aaron Chown/PA Among those admiring the queue stretching along the Thames was Molly Hill, 27, an employee at PWC. This morning she was watching the live stream online and was one of the many employees in the glass towers looking down. “I was also looking at people,” Hill said, as she waited for the line to appear. “You can spot a tail I think, they have a certain look about them.” Hill, however, is not among them. “It’s a moment in history and it’s exciting to see how many people want to get involved and pay their respects, but I think at the end of the day you’re just looking at a coffin and I’ve seen the Queen alive. “ Hill, who lives in Norfolk, has a family tradition of going to Sandringham at Christmas time to see the royals walk between the house and the church. Although he is not a royalist, he said he values tradition and the king’s contribution to national identity. “She’s like everybody’s grandmother in a weird way,” Hill said. “Someone you know, someone who’s been around for a while, so when someone like that dies it makes you think about your own losses and your family.” But when asked if he thought the monarchy was still relevant in 2022, he added: “Yes, but not in the way it was before. “It’s more of a nice to have than a need. I still like it because I like the tradition and I think it’s part of what it means to be British.” The Queen was “someone whose wisdom was remarkable” and who “you could completely, completely and utterly trust”, said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, talks to people who lined up to see the Queen lie in state. Photo: Jill Mead/The Guardian As he walked to meet mourners queuing to see the Queen lie in state, the archbishop said he was not at all surprised by the size of the turnout. Speaking about the late monarch, he told the PA news agency: She was someone you could totally, completely and utterly trust, whose wisdom was remarkable, whose experience – I was the seventh Archbishop of Canterbury to know – who really understood things and who prayed. On what the Queen’s death means for the future of the nation, the archbishop replied: It means that we will move seamlessly to another person who will show service to the country and see his role not as above all, but to serve the country and the constitution. Updated at 11.12 BST
How long is the queue?
According to the government tracker, the queue to enter Westminster Hall is around 3.1 miles long at 10.30am. on Thursday, stretches back to HMS Belfast as thousands wait to pay their respects. People line up to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II during the repose outside Westminster Hall in London. Photo: Emilio Morenatti/AP Updated at 10.52 BST British Foreign Secretary James Cleverley was unaware that Chinese President Xi Jinping had been invited to the Queen’s funeral on Monday, according to reports. Invitations have been sent by the UK to heads of state of almost every country except Russia, Belarus and Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela and the Afghan Taliban. China’s Xi was included on the invitation list, although he was never expected to attend. The Chinese premier just this week is making his first trip outside China, to a conference in Uzbekistan, where he will meet Vladimir Putin, since the pandemic began. Politico reports that Smart told a colleague that an invitation to the Queen’s funeral had only been given to the Chinese ambassador – which would have been a major diplomatic misunderstanding. The State Department later clarified that Smart had made a mistake and that Xi. EXC: James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, was unaware yesterday that Xi Jinping had been invited to the Queen’s funeral Texted a colleague saying only the Chinese ambassador had been invited IDS and other sanctions imposed by China want the invitation rescinded pic.twitter.com/sMTkjIY5pB — Eleni Courea (@elenicourea) September 15, 2022 Senior Tory MPs protested the call to China over its treatment of Muslim Uighurs, with one calling the decision “an insult to the memory and dignity of our Queen”. Tim Loughton – one of seven MPs and their counterparts sanctioned by Beijing for speaking out against human rights abuses in Xinjiang – told the Independent: It is unbelievable that the government would consider inviting representatives of the Chinese government to attend such an important international event as the state funeral. Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader, called the invitation “amazing” and “project cowtow all again”. Updated at 11.01 BST Senior barristers, now known as KCs instead of QCs, will take part in a crown deposition after the Queen’s death. The King’s Counselors, as they are now known after the King’s proclamation, have been invited to dress in robes and mourning clothes. They will then gather outside the Old Bailey before walking to Gray’s Inn Chapel for the ceremony. Around 1,900 UK senior solicitors and hundreds more in Commonwealth countries must now use the shorthand KC instead of QC on letterheads and other materials. French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke to King Charles III last night to express his country’s condolences on the death of Charles’ mother, the queen. Macron confirmed he would attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday, adding that the ties between France and Britain were “unbreakable”. In a telephone conversation with His Majesty King Charles III last night, I expressed France’s condolences on the death of his mother, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. I will attend the funeral in London on Monday. — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2022 The ties between France and the United Kingdom are unbreakable. We will continue to strengthen them, following the path set by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. — Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 15, 2022 Updated at 09.51 BST People queue for hours to pay their respects to Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who lies in state at the Palace of Westminster. Photo: Olivier Hoslet/EPAP People line up to pay their respects to the late queen. Photo: Markus Schreiber/AP The Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall for four full days before her funeral on Monday. Photo: Markus Schreiber/AP Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty writes for us today about how there is one law for billionaire King Charles and another for his struggling subjects. It is right that the new king does not pay inheritance tax – says the state that makes citizens choose between heating or food, he writes. Last Thursday, the new prime minister presented a plan to curb energy costs. Instead of scrutinizing these measures, MPs spent days paying tribute to the monarchy. “This is how you were served by your representatives,” continues Aditya. Far from such performances, the island is full of noises – a sense of chaos is suspended. For an idea of the disaster to come, talk to Paul Morrison. A policy advisor to the Methodist church, he analyzes financial diaries recently filled out by visitors to food banks, debt clinics and other church-based projects. Right now, it finds that just over half of respondents – 56% – can continue without going into debt. It might mean walking an hour to the job center instead of taking a bus. it can be thrown by even the smallest accident, but with luck it can be done. Fast forward two weeks, however, and add higher energy prices and everything changes. Even with Truss’ new measures, only 2% of his group can survive financially. The remaining 98% disappears. Years of reporting have shown me that the very poor are the best budgets in the country – better than any striped checker. They can represent every pound in and every pound out. Come October 1st, they won’t have any room to tone them down. Read the full piece here: Updated at 09.24 BST For those invited to attend Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on Monday, the deadline to RSVP is today. A quarter of the 2,000 seats at Westminster Abbey have been reserved for heads of state and their partners, with Joe Biden, Emmanuel Macron and Japan’s Emperor Naruhito the most high-profile guests confirmed to be from overseas. Members of the military take part in an early morning rehearsal for Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral. Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Invitations have been sent by the UK to heads of state of almost every country, but a small number of countries have been left out due to political differences. Rulers from neither Syria, Venezuela nor the Taliban of Afghanistan were invited, after the previous blacklisting of Russia, Belarus and Myanmar, the first two due to the war in Ukraine. North Korea and Nicaragua – with which the UK has frosty diplomatic relations – are being asked to send ambassador-level representatives, a message of disapproval that has already been sent to Iran. Officials are expected to draw up the final guest list and finalize the seating plan for the funeral, which will reflect seniority and status. Foreign dignitaries coming to…
