Queen Elizabeth II dies: Thousands wait in line to pay respects to late monarch

LONDON — Thousands of people are waiting in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, who is lying in state at Westminster Hall in London.

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According to The Associated Press, crowds filled the streets overnight as the massive line, which stretched from Parliament to the Tower Bridge, continued to grow, reaching 3.5 miles long by Thursday morning.

British Army veteran Keith Smart told the AP that he waited 10 hours to see the queen’s coffin.

“Everybody in the crowd was impeccably behaved,” he told the news agency. “There was no malice; everybody was friends.”

Early Thursday, a BBC livestream appeared to show a royal guard fainting and falling while standing near the coffin, according to The Independent. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the guard, who was helped by police, was hurt, the newspaper reported.

The queen, who died Sept. 8 at her Balmoral estate in Scotland, will continue to lie in state until 6:30 a.m. Monday, the day of her funeral, the BBC and Buckingham Palace reported. The public viewing, which began at 5 p.m. Wednesday (noon EDT), will continue 24 hours a day until then, the BBC reported. King Charles III and his siblings also plan to hold vigil around the queen’s coffin on Friday evening, the palace said Thursday.

The state funeral is slated to begin at 11 a.m. (6 a.m. EDT) Monday following a procession to Westminster Abbey, according to the BBC. Afterward, the U.K. will hold a nationwide, two-minute moment of silence in the queen’s honor, the AP reported. She will then be interred alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, after a private service in Windsor, Buckingham Palace said.

On Wednesday, a horse-drawn gun carriage carried the coffin on a 38-minute journey from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, the AP previously reported. Members of the royal family – including King Charles III and his sons, Princes William and Harry – accompanied the Imperial State Crown-adorned coffin during the procession, which also featured a gun salute in Hyde Park and the tolling of Big Ben, according to the BBC. When the coffin reached Westminster Hall, the Archbishop of Canterbury led a brief service that the royal family attended, the outlets reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.