- The Observer, Sunday April 7 2002
The line of patient mourners, enduring waits of up to eight hours, stretched past the London Eye and Royal Festival Hall and on towards Blackfriars Bridge. Many had brought cups of tea and sandwiches.
Officials at Westminster Hall, where the Queen Mother is lying in state, said that the building would remain open, closing only between 6am and 8am for cleaning, until 6pm on Monday. Numbers were boosted by the sunny weather and hundreds of tourists, eager to play a part in a week of mourning that is turning into the biggest display of pageantry Britain has seen in a generation.
'It was absolutely beautiful, and very, very moving. The hall itself is absolutely fantastic, and just the air of respect was awesome,' said Jane Lindemann from South Africa.
The Queen was said to be 'very touched', by the public display of emotion after initial fears the public had been largely unmoved by the event.
'We came to pay our respects to the Queen Mother. We will probably never see anything like it again,' said Michael Dodge, 55, who travelled with his wife Joy, 53, from Portsmouth.
