Thousands queue for 14 hours to pay their last respects

Internal links

British revel in their own capacity for mourning

Royal reforms to develop Charles as 'shadow king'

Bruce Anderson: The sober mourning that confounds republican hopes

The best vantage points to watch the Queen Mother's funeral were already taken 48 hours before the procession.

Those bedding down last night had earlier been among the ranks queuing for up to 14 hours to file past her lying in state in Westminster Hall. In an extraordinary display of respect mixed with curiosity, more than 135,000 people had come, with tens of thousands more still expected.

By lunchtime yesterday queues stretched along the Thames for more than four miles and extra police officers were drafted in from across thecapital to monitor the crowds.

The hall, where the Queen Mother has been lying in state since Friday, will now remain open until 6am tomorrow – only five hours before the coffin is carried in procession to Westminster Abbey for thefuneral service – to allow as many people as possible to view it.

Tonight the Queen willaddress the nation with a broadcast eulogy for hermother in which she will thank those who have queued over the past few days.

Ambulance staff warned that people should be prepared for a long, cold wait. Many of the first people to file past thecoffin yesterday had waited overnight in the bitter cold.

Some were critical that they were not told the hall would close between 5am and 8am yesterday for a funeral rehearsal, which forced them to wait for an extra three hours in the cold. Linda White, 52, from Fleet, Hampshire, said: "We arrived at 1.45am andwere near the front of the queue when it closed. But it has been worth it."

Today the Queen Mother's four grandsons – Charles, Andrew, Edward and David Linley – will mount a 30-minute vigil at her coffin, reminiscent of that at Westminster Hall for King George V in 1936.

The Prince of Wales will wear the dress uniform of a Rear-Admiral and the Duke of York that of a Royal Naval Commander. The Earl of Wessex, who left the Royal Marines, and Princess Margaret's son, Viscount Linley, who also does not hold military rank, will wear black morning coats.

Charles and Andrew will rest both hands on their swords and all four grandsons will stand silently, heads bowed.