Thousands of people defied a warning from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport calling on people to stop joining the 14-hour queue. Families were seen running from Bermondsey Underground station on Sunday afternoon in a frantic bid to join the five-mile long queue at Southwark Park, south London. “We ran here from church because it’s the last day,” Amala Soni said as she struggled to catch her breath. The 39-year-old was with her husband Gaurav, 40, and children Ryan, 10, and Ivaan, six, who had come prepared with chairs, cookies and plenty of fruit. “It means a lot to us because I’m originally from India but I’ve settled in the UK and I feel loyal to the Queen. I think it’s a privilege to be a part of this moment. We really wanted to be here and we heard it was closing, so we sprinted,” added Amala. The Queen’s stateside period ends at 6.30am on Monday, but the queue is likely to close a few hours before then. Mourners continued to make the pilgrimage to central London on Saturday night and into Sunday afternoon. Clutching blankets and cups of coffee, they told how they traveled from across the country to join the line, with some even making their second trip. Philomena Groome, 56, from Surbiton, south-west London, joined the queue for the first time on Friday before she had to leave school to take her son to university in Stoke on Trent. He had been in line for seven hours but had to catch the last train out of Waterloo at midnight. “If I didn’t go then I wouldn’t be able to get him to university and that’s so important,” the Irish-born nurse said as she rejoined the queue on Sunday. “But I’m ready to queue again, for 14 hours this time. As I drove round the M25 on my way back from Stoke to Trent I thought, ‘I’ve got to do this again’. I heard them on the radio saying don’t leave the house, they are thinking of closing the queue. I panicked and thought I was going to lose it. I could have joined where I left off at Waterloo, but I didn’t want to queue-jump just because I waited seven hours before. So I’m starting over. “I do it because as a little girl in Ireland all I remember is watching Charles marry Diana.” Marian Chandler and Rosemary Richardson slept two hours in line. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Marian Chandler, 68, and Rosemary Richardson, 62, took the train from York on Saturday and joined the queue at 3am on Sunday. Clutching blankets, the friends appeared happy as they approached the end of the queue near Lambeth Bridge. “When you start at the beginning, there are people handing out blankets from M&S to keep us warm because it was so cold,” Marian said. “We had two hours sleep and plan to have two hours tonight because we want to get up at 2am to find a good spot near the Abbey to watch the funeral,” Rosemary added. “I love the queen and I just want to say cheerio to her and thank her for everything. He is an amazing example of dedication and service. We are very sad, but we wish King Charles the best.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our site and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Telma Gutierrez praised the volunteers who distributed food and hot drinks. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Telma Gutierrez praised the spirit of those in line and the volunteers handing out sandwiches and tea and coffee. The 40-year-old, from Aldgate, east London, who joined the queue with her sister-in-law, said: “It’s a historic moment and it’s the last time we’ll see the Queen and the last time I’ll have a Queen because they’ll be kings from here and hereafter. “We’re all tired, but we had a lady in line called Lydia who has kept us up because she’s so funny.” Raphael Uwanoghor, 43, and his wife Elizabeth, 44, traveled from Greenwich, south-east London with their three children and joined the queue at 3am. “It’s a historic moment that we don’t want to miss. We will learn a lot from being here and we want our children to have this experience as well,” said Rafael, who was wrapped in a blanket. Hayley and James Frost and their daughter Elinor came from Devon to join the queue. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Hayley and James Frost, both Royal Air Force veterans, made the 200-mile journey from Devon with their daughter Eleanor, who was dressed in a Brownie outfit. The pair, wearing suits adorned with medals, joined the queue at 3.30am. “We are RAF veterans so we served under the Queen in the 90s for 10 years and met her countless times. So we came all the way from Devon to come here and pay our respects. I met the Queen at RAF Marham’s 75th anniversary in 1993. I’m a big fan.’ Deborah Adeoye with her daughter Kemi (far left) and nieces and nephew Jasmine, India, Zachary and Safiya in the queue and near the London Eye. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Deborah Adeoye brought along her daughter Kemi, 15, nieces Jasmine, 8, India, 12, Safiya, 10, and nephew Zachary, 10, for the “historic moment”. “I want the little ones to live in the moment,” said the 55-year-old from Kingston, Surrey, who joined the queue at 5am. “We’re from Trinidad but we grew up in the UK and we want to pay our respects and say thank you. The girls wear their grandmother’s charms as a tribute.”
