Silent tributes paid in historic hall

A slow, steady tide of humanity today began filing past the Queen Mother’s coffin as it began its lying in state at Westminster Hall.

The old and the young trooped past the catafalque in sombre silence.

Some stopped, bowed their heads and paused for several seconds while others glanced in curiosity first at the coffin and then their surroundings.

As a piece of silent state ceremony, the setting could not have been more artfully contrived.

High above soared the oak timbers of the ancient hall, all of 900 years old.

Along the length of the building lay the grey plain blocks of the stone walls.

And there in the centre, the vivid purple of the catafalque draped with the Queen Mother’s Royal standard, itself ablaze with reds and yellows.

Beneath the catafalque lay its garnet coloured base.

Five large candles surrounded the coffin.

And at each corner an officer of the Household Cavalry, plumed and helmeted, standing as still as a statue, head bowed and with hands folded on the hilts of their swords.

Past this scene filed an endless flow of people, confined to two long strips of tan carpet running the length of the hall to deaden the footsteps.

Perhaps two thirds of those paying their respects were women.

The elderly too accounted for a fair proportion but young men and young couples were there also present.

So long was the queue outside that it stretched south to Lambeth Bridge, then across to the South

Bank of the river and back up towards Westminster on the far side of the river.

The hall was supposed to close to the public at 6.00pm but police said it will be kept open as long as the public remain for 24 hours a day, if necessary.

Inside, the quiet was broke every 20 minutes by the changeover of the four guardsmen mounting vigil by the coffin.

As the crowds filed past the coffin, sunshine blazed through the giant stain glass window above St Stephen’s entrance.

At the far end of the building, their respects paid, the crowds trickled out into the afternoon sunshine through the halls at North Door.