The last person to view the Queen’s coffin says it was “one of the highlights of my life”.
This video can not be played
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The last person in the queue to view Queen Elizabeth II’s lying-in-state ahead of the monarch’s funeral has said it “means a lot” to pay her respects.
Sarah Rogers, who had travelled from Woodbridge in Suffolk with her mother Christine, said the Queen had “been a constant in my life”.
Hundreds of thousands of people have filed past the Queen’s coffin at Westminster Hall since Wednesday.
The lying-in-state ended just after 06:30 BST on Monday.
The queue closed shortly after 22:40 on Sunday but anyone already waiting with a wristband was assured they would be admitted.
At its peak, people were waiting for more than 24 hours in a long line that snaked through central London for almost seven miles, ending in a three-mile zigzag in Southwark Park.
Christine and Sarah were the final two people to be handed wristbands to join the queue.
The crowds behind them burst into applause as they were told they would be the last people allowed to enter Westminster Hall.
Sarah said: “It means a lot to come and pay our respects, because she’s been a constant in my life. To just go there and say thank you… it means a lot.”
Image source, PA Media
Several hundred people were turned away, including Vidur and Natasha Pabari from Chigwell. Vidur said it was “heartbreaking” to miss out, while Natasha said: “We will have to pay our respects another way.”
On Sunday, organisers had urged people not to travel to avoid disappointment in case they missed the cut-off time, before announcing the queue was closed shortly after 22:40.
In a tweet just after 06:30 on Monday the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “Thank you to everyone who has observed Her Majesty The Queen’s Lying-in-State which has now ended.”
The number of people to view the Queen’s lying-in-state is yet to be announced.
