Entry to the queue to see Queen Elizabeth lying in state has been permanently closed.

The queue to visit Queen Elizabeth lying in state has permanently closed

The queue to visit Queen Elizabeth lying in state has permanently closed

The late monarch - who passed away on September 8 at the age of 96 following a 70-year reign - has been lying-in-state at Westminster Hall since Wednesday (14.09.22) and thousands of mourners had queued for up to 30 hours to pay their respects but the DCMS announced at 11pm on Sunday that no-one else will be able to join the line as the country prepares for her funeral on Monday.

A messaged shared by the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport stated: "The queue to attend the Lying-in-State of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has now closed. Live streams are available to watch online and on TV if you are not already in the queue."

Earlier in the day, the organisation had warned that entry to the queue would close when it reached "full capacity" and just hours prior to that, those wishing to file past the coffin had been told not to "set off" from their homes.

In a tweet, the DCMS said: " HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN'S LYING-IN-STATE QUEUE UPDATE, 5:00PM, 18 Sep

"Queuing time is at least 9.5 hours Queue end is in Southwark Park"

Prior to the tweet sent out on Sunday (18.09.22) afternoon, members of the public wishing to pay their respects to the monarch had initially been warned that they needed to be in the queue by 12:30am on Monday (19.09.22) in order to make it into Westminster Hall before it closes at 6:30am,

Over the course of the last week, two vigils had been held at the historic hall, first with the Queen's children standing by her coffin in silence as members of the public filed past before her grandchildren repeated the procedure on Wednesday.

King Charles - who acceded to the throne the moment his mother passed -

was near the head of the coffin while his ypinger siblings Anne, Princess Royal, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward were arranged on the

other sides.

Eugenie and Beatrice - who are the daughters of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess York, - could be seen on the platform to the side of the coffin along with their cousins Zara and Peter.

Just 24 hours later, Prince William - who is now heir apparent following his father's accession to the throne - stood at the head of the coffin and his younger brother, Prince Harry, at the foot.

The Queen's coffin will leave Westminster Hall just hours before the funeral service is due to take place at Westminster Abbey at 11am.

The BBC will be providing full coverage of the funeral across its television channels, radio, iPlayer and BBC Sounds, with a special programme on air from 8am until 5pm and viewers can see the hour-long service from 11am.

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