For the past days, there has been widespread worry about the amount of people who are expected flood the British capital to pay their last respects to their beloved Monarch of 70 years – Elizabeth II.
The Cabinet Office have now made public detailed plans to assist the public who wish to visit Her late Majesty Lying-in-State, with the queues predicted to reach five miles long, stretching from Westminster Hall to Southwark Park.
People from all walks of life have joined in the monumental efforts to ensure that as many people as possible will have the opportunity to bid farewell to the Queen.
Volunteers from the Samaritans, the British Red Cross, the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and the Salvation Army will be stationed along the route to help with queue management, as will members of St John’s Ambulance to provide first aid wherever needed.
They will be joined by owners and managers of local businesses along the route who will provide their facilities for public use. From cafes and restaurants, to entertainment venues such as the the National Theatre and Shakespeare’s Globe, everybody wants to play their part.
With all of the events of the past few days, a small detail almost went unnoticed: more than 100 members of the Scouts will be joining volunteers to lend a helping hand and keep the long queues as safe and comfortable as possible.
The scouts will all be between 18 and 25, and will be arriving in London from all over the United Kingdom, in a show of solidarity and mourning.
Queen Elizabeth II had a special relation with the Scouts: not only had she been their patron for many decades, but she was also a Guide Scout herself. She was appointed to the role in 1937, at the age of 11; in that same year, her sister, Princess Margaret, became a Brownie, a role that the new Princess of Wales also achieved in her childhood.
