King Charles And Prince William Surprise Mourners Queueing To See The Queen's Coffin

Nehmat Kaur
·2 min read
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King Charles III and William, Prince of Wales, made a surprise visit to greet mourners who are queueing to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state at Westminster Hall on Saturday.

Prince William shook hands and greeted people who had been queuing overnight to pay their respects to his grandmother. He told mourners, “Thank you. It means an awful lot.”

King Charles III also shook hands with people, thanking them for waiting upwards of 20 hours to view his mother lying in state. In one video, his personal guard can be heard telling people to put their phones away and “enjoy the moment.”

The queue to see Queen Elizabeth’s coffin has become an event unto itself at it stretches for miles across central London, with people traveling into the city to see the Queen at Westminster Hall.

On Friday, the queue had to close to new entrants for a while as it crossed 5-miles and waiting hours between 22-24 hours. But not before David Beckham also surprised mourners and queued with them for hours for a chance to pay his respects to the Queen.

The Queen’s coffin will remain at Westminster Hall for people to visit until Monday, Sept. 19, when it will be carried in a procession to Westminster Abbey for a state funeral.

This evening, Princes William and Harry will mount a vigil around their grandmother’s coffin along with her other grandchildren. The King and his siblings did so yesterday evening, in a ceremony called the vigil of the princes, although it notably included Princess Anne.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.

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