Line to Pay Respect to Queen Elizabeth Temporarily Closed After Reaching Capacity

Mar. 15, 2025

British government officials on Friday morning temporarily closed the back of the line for those waiting to seeQueen Elizabeth IIlie in state at Westminster Hall, preventing new people wishing to pay their respects from joining the ongoing queue.

Wait times for visitors had reportedly stretched to 14 hours, NBC News reported, with the line measuring at nearly 5 miles.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience,” a tweet from the agency read. “Please do not attempt to join the queue until it re-opens. Check back for further updates.”

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The Queen died on Sept. 8at the age of 96.

Queen Elizabeth’s coffin.BEN STANSALL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

She’ll remain in Westminster Hall, where public visitors can view her coffin 24/7 until the early hours of Monday morning, whenstate funeral festivities will begin.

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PEOPLE spoke to one who already walked through the line: Isabella Heffernan, a 19-year-old American student studying bio-ethics at Stanford University.

Gregorio Borgia - WPA Pool/Getty

Heffernan waited five hours in line to file past the late monarch’s coffin.

“I personally don’t have a connection to the Queen, but I thought it’s a moment in history,” Heffernan told PEOPLE. “She reigned for 70 years, and it’s something you’re never going to get again.”

She added, “It’s something you will tell your kids and your grandkids about, and it’s a moment in the history books — and to me, that was the important thing.”

Heffernan, a Rhode Island native, was visiting family in Dublin, Ireland whenQueen Elizabethdied last week at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

“I immediately bought a ticket to come here,” she said about hearing the news.

Queen Elizabeth’s coffin.MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images

The student said that with her family from Northern Ireland, “political tensions with England are not easy.” When she called her father to tell him she was heading to London, he “was less than happy” but understood.

“I’m really into history, and when you have the opportunity to experience a historical moment, it’s so important to do so,” Heffernan added.

Heffernan described the atmosphere inside Westminster Hall as “sorrowful but grateful.”

“You could tell this meant so much to people,” she explained. “When people go on tours to the U.S. Capitol, it’s more laid back. But here, it was like their own grandmother had died. That’s the way it felt, which was actually shocking but also amazing and interesting to see.”

She said, “I just can’t get over how much people seem to connect with her because I’ve met a couple of political figures. I’ve met Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders and state senators when I was younger, and you didn’t have that deep connection. You’d hear about a funeral and would feel kind of sad. But the Queen has given her life to service, and her people are so grateful, which to me was a really surprising thing to see.”

source: people.com