London had not seen anything like it since the death of King George VI, half-a-century before, as tens of thousands of people queued to pay their last respects to the Queen Mother. The Northern Echo's political correspondent, Simon Page, was one of the first people to file into Westminster Hall.

THE true extent of public respect for the Queen Mother was reflected in the enormous queue that built up within minutes of the coffin arriving.

By 2pm, when the doors of Westminster were opened, an estimated 50,000 people were waiting to walk past the coffin, through the medieval splendour of Westminster Hall.

They waited patiently in the spring sunshine, talking quietly, shuffling along just a few feet at a time. Although the time would be measured in hours, rather than minutes, no one seemed to mind.

The line snaked back from the Houses of Parliament, half-a-mile along Millbank, over Lambeth Bridge, and along the south bank of the River Thames back to Westminster Bridge - more than a mile in all.

Everyone seemed to be in good humour, despite the rigorous security searches they had to go through, before being allowed a few minutes to shuffle past the four guardsmen who stood in silent vigil by the coffin.

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

It was an event that has not been witnessed since the lying in state of wartime Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill in 1965, and before that of the Queen Mother's husband, George VI, in 1952.

First-in-line Andrew Hay said he had waited for more than 17 hours to pay his respects to the royal matriarch.

The 36-year-old van driver, from Gosport, Hampshire, left his wife and two children at home to spend the night queuing.

Mr Hay said: "We would have liked to have seen the procession, but we felt it was more important to pay our respects to the Queen Mother.

"The Queen Mother was definitely our favourite royal. She was the best.''

Royal Navy Lieutenant Stephen Walton, 29, wore traditional Highland regalia to pay his respects.

The HMS Illustrious officer, originally from Scotland but now based in Portsmouth, described the whole event was awe-inspiring.

Lt Walton, who has recently returned from deployment in Afghanistan, said: "I never met her, but she did so much for the armed forces.

"This is to say thank-you for all the years of service she did for the nation."

Earlier, as Westminster basked in a glorious morning, crowds built up on the pavements of Whitehall.

Some had camped overnight, many more began arriving at dawn to see the coffin being moved.

Tube passengers were warned not to disembark at Westminster because of overcrowding, although access for the Palace of Westminster's 5,000 staff was maintained.

Many of them were allowed to line the sides of New Palace Yard, inside the main gates to the building.

The surface of the cobbled driveway had been covered with immaculately smoothed sand, to allow for a jolt-free passage of the gun carriage carrying the Queen Mother's coffin.

A few hundred people lucky enough to have found spots on the outside edge of New Palace Yard pressed their heads to the railings to catch a glimpse of the coffin as it was carried into Westminster Hall.

The hall is to be kept open 24 hours a day, if necessary.

Inside, the silence is broken every 20 minutes by the changing of the guard.

Yesterday afternoon, there was almost a surreal atmosphere.

Sunshine streamed through a huge stained glass window at one end of the hall - and the slightly dazed well-wishers drifted back out into the traffic and fumes of central London.