Kathryn Emery flew to the UK with her younger sister from Connecticut, especially to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth.

"We both admired Elizabeth," she tells the BBC's John Maguire.

"Oh now I'm getting teary," says Kathryn.

Filing past the Queen's coffin was "very emotional", she says: "It was poignant, very touching, to see everyone go in to pay their respects - you could just feel the love everyone has for her."

Kathryn says the long wait in the queue was "definitely worth it",

Members of the armed forces have been holding rehearsals for the Queen's funeral overnight.

Full details have not yet been revealed, but here's what we know so far, and here's who is (and isn't) invited, from around the world.

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Alexander Griffiths
reporting from South Bank, London

The queue has been moving briskly this morning with people advancing half a mile in just under an hour.

Some people waiting say they decided straight after the Queen’s death that they'd travel to London to see her lying in state, while others only decided to join the queue late last night.

Gary Fagg, who has served in the Royal Military Police, is wearing his distinctive red beret and a row of medals.

He referred to the Queen respectfully and affectionately, like many other members of the armed forces do, as "my boss".

"She’s given 70 years of her life for this country so what’s a few hours to come and pay respect?" he says.

Further along the route, the British Film Institute (BFI) has installed a large screen showing footage from the BFI National Archive of Queen Elizabeth II’s foreign visits to countries such as Sierra Leone and Pakistan during the 1960s.

A St John Ambulance volunteer who has been assisting people waiting to see the Queen lying in state says the spirits of people in the queue have been high all night.

Richard Salter says fellow volunteers are spread along the entire length of the queue (which is currently nearly 3 miles long) to "look out for and support them along the way".

He says there have been issues with blisters for those walking and standing and people feeling "a bit faint" after not eating for many hours, adding they were encouraging people to bring food and water.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Garry High from Guildford, Surrey, joined the queue just after 11pm on Wednesday, and saw the coffin at about 7am.

He proudly shows me his wristband on Whitehall, saying it was "very emotional" to see the coffin.

He had decided to join the queue last night with his partner because "it’s going to get worse tomorrow, Friday and Saturday".

Now that the wait is over, Garry's got plans for breakfast.

"I’m off to McDonald’s!" he says.

Sisters Joyce and Vivienne came to Westminster "on the spur of the moment" and queued for 11 hours before seeing the Queen lying in state this morning.

Vivienne says it was worth waiting for: "It was amazing, I wouldn't have missed it."

Joyce says seeing the Queen's coffin was "surreal" and this was an opportunity for her to pay her respects.

This was an especially poignant moment for the sisters as their mother died recently - they "know what it's like to lose" and can "feel the Royal family's loss".

"The Queen represents all the older generation," says Vivienne.

Nick Eardley
Political correspondent, at Westminster Hall

Image source, Reuters

As people enter Westminster Hall, the polite chatter outside falls away.

It’s almost silent here as people walk down the stairs towards the Queen’s coffin.

Every 20 minutes, there is a short break in the silence as the detachments guarding the coffin are rotated. Apart from that, you could hear a pin drop.

I’m struck by the range of faces who have queued for hours to spend a couple of minutes here.

Some are elderly veterans, proudly wearing their medals. Others are young adults, politely paying their respects. Some bow, some close their eyes in contemplation. There are many in tears as they pay tribute.

The former prime minister, Theresa May, and her husband, Philip, have just stood briefly at the side of the catafalque, remembering someone they spent a lot of time with when she was in Downing Street.

There is a sombre, contemplative mood here. It will continue for the next four days in the run-up to the state funeral.

Image source, OLIVIER HOSLET/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

If you're hoping to join the queue to see the Queen lying in state, there are a few things you need to know before you leave home.

1. Be prepared for a long wait. The government is giving regular updates on the length of the line with a feed on YouTube, external showing the back of the queue. At the moment, it's 2.6 miles (4.1km) long, stretching past Southwark Bridge towards Borough Market
2. You can leave the queue to go to the toilet. There are more than 500 portable toilets at various points along the route and various businesses are keeping their doors open for extended hours so that people can use their toilets too
3. There is disabled access. The queue and Westminster Hall both have step-free access and there is a separate accessible queue, for those who need it, beginning at Tate Britain. Timed entry slots are being issued to join a queue along Millbank. Guide dogs and other assistance dogs are allowed inside Westminster Hall, and British Sign Language interpreters are available
4. Travelling might take longer than usual. You should check the latest travel information on the Transport for London website, external before you set off.

You can find more tips on joining the lying-in-state queue here.

After an intense week since the Queen's death, today is the first without a busy schedule of official events, so what are the Royal Family up to?

King Charles is expected to have a private day of reflection away from public duties and events, after returning to his home in Highgrove in Gloucestershire yesterday evening.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are heading to Sandringham in Norfolk, where Prince William and Catherine will look at floral tributes that have been left there.

The Princess Royal will visit Scotland to meet representatives of organisations that the Queen was patron of in Scotland. Princess Anne will be accompanied by her husband Sir Tim Laurence on her visit Glasgow City Chambers.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex, Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, are visiting Manchester to view tributes in the city.

Image source, Getty Images

Sir David Attenborough has been sharing his fond personal memories of having spent time in the Queen's company.

Broadcaster Sir David, who noted the "affection displayed by so many people from so many parts of the world" following the Queen’s death, used to produce her Christmas speech broadcasts for the BBC in the 1990s.

He says he once was “apprehensive” about having to suggest that she might possibly have to select another outfit for her annual address.

That's because the green one she had suggested matched the wallpaper of the room they planned to film in and therefore “would not look good”.

The Queen’s private secretary, Sir William Heseltine, Sir David recalled, suggested it was either that or get the room re-papered.

“’Re-papered! Have you any idea what that’s going to cost?’” came the reply from the Queen, said Sir David smiling.

“I thought I’d help Bill and said, ‘I think that was Sir William’s little joke, ma’am’.”

“’Maybe’, she said. ‘But not a very good one!’”

People who queued overnight to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II have been telling BBC Breakfast what it was like to see the Queen's coffin.

Lena and Sarah, mothers of two Royal Marine Commandos, visited on behalf of their sons who couldn't come to London.

They came to say thank you to the Queen "for looking after our armed forces".

Sarah says it was "beautifully quiet" in Westminster Hall, where the Queen is lying-in-state.

"As soon as I was at the top of the stairs, the impact - it freezes you," says Lena.

"That's when the moment gets to you, you just break".

Image source, Reuters

The queue to see the Queen lying in state is currently around two miles long, according to the government's tracker.

It stretches from Westminster Hall along the southern bank of the River Thames nearly all the way to Blackfriars bridge, which is between the Waterloo and Millennium Bridges marked on the map of the route below:

For those wanting to pay their respects virtually, there is a dedicated livestream showing the scene as the Queen lies in state, which you can view by tapping play at the top of this page.

• You can find everything you need to know about the lying-in-state queue here.

One mourner who filed through to pay his respects last night says he stood before the Queen's coffin and saluted because was "here for one reason, to serve her" as an honorary colonel in the British Army.

Robin Wight, 78, says he had been lucky enough to be made a commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) by the Queen personally, after helping to raise £65m for the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE).

Acknowledging that he had long conversations with the Queen on the occasions he had met her while fundraising for the DofE, White says you felt her compassion and "intense warmth" in just a few minutes of talking with her.

Image source, Ben Stansall/PA Wire

There have been a flurry of ceremonial events marking the death of Queen Elizabeth II over the past few days, but today is expected to be quieter.

It's the first of four full days of the Queen's coffin lying in state in Westminster Hall, in the Palace of Westminster, where she will remain until the morning of the funeral on Monday 19 September.

The closed coffin is being guarded in a continuous vigil by soldiers from units that serve the Royal Household. People have queued on foot throughout the night to pay their respects, with hundreds of thousands more expected to pay their respects in the coming days.

Today's also the deadline for those invited to the funeral to confirm their attendance, so the final guestlist can be drawn up.

Christina McSorley
BBC News

A woman who received a letter of thanks from the Queen 55 years ago after making her a cushion for her jewels, has come to pay her final respects.

Fiona Tooley told the BBC she made the cushion when she was six years old after seeing the Crown Jewels on display "sitting on a tatty old cushion" at the Tower of London.

"Being an excited little girl I decided to make her a cushion for her birthday and send it to her," she said.

"I was delighted to get a letter in response and it's still on my wall in my study now."

Ms Tooley and her niece Vanessa Bradley reached Westminster Hall to see the Queen lie in state after six hours of queueing.

"It was beautiful," Ms Tooley said.

"The whole thing was done very very well. I think we should take our hat off to the police who arranged all of this for us today."

Ms Bradley said: "the silence and the respect shown to the Queen was really quiet overwhelming.

"I said to her 'thank you for all your time and dedication to the country' and told her she was very much loved by many."

Image source, Getty Images

Full details have not yet been revealed, but here is some of what we know or can expect next week.

When and where is the funeral?

The Queen's state funeral will take place at Westminster Abbey at 11:00 BST on Monday 19 September. The abbey is the historic church where Britain's kings and queens are crowned, and where the Queen married Prince Philip.

What's a state funeral?

A state funeral is typically held for a king or queen and follows strict rules of protocol, such as a military procession of the coffin and a period of lying in state - that's what’s happening now, where the public can see the coffin and pay their respects. The last state funeral was that of Sir Winston Churchill on 30 January 1965.

Who will be there?

The ceremony at Westminster Abbey has a capacity for around 2,200 people.Heads of state from across the world will be flying in to join members of the Royal Family to remember the life and service of the Queen. Senior UK politicians, former prime ministers and members of royal families from across Europe are also expected to be there. Here’s more on who is invited and who’s not.

How can I watch the funeral?

It will be broadcast on BBC television and can be streamed on BBC iPlayer, with updates on the BBC News website and BBC radio throughout the day. Other networks are also expected to broadcast the event, and it will be shown on big screens in many towns and cities across the UK.

Image source, Reuters

Despite the late timing, many people have clearly not been deterred from queueing.

At the moment, the queue is almost three miles long and the back of the queue is close to London Bridge.

The maximum length of the queue is 10 miles (16km), with 6.9 miles from Westminster to Southwark, and a three-mile zigzag queue in Southwark Park.

Read more here.

Grace Tsoi and Joyce Lee
BBC News

Hong Kongers have been lining up for hours this week to pay their respects to the Queen in what has been perhaps the biggest display of affection for the late monarch seen outside the UK.

The long queues, piles of flowers and cards in the city's Admiralty district contrast with more muted reactions seen in other former British colonies.

Outside the British consulate, mourners opened umbrellas to hide from the scorching sun while "God Save the Queen" played softly from a mobile phone.

Parents brought their children along, and one father even wrapped his seven-month-old daughter in a Union Jack flag.

But for some, commemorating the Queen is a way to express their unhappiness at the Hong Kong government. Protest is no longer possible under Beijing's sweeping national security law and stringent Covid rules.

Read more here.

It's the most complex security operation London has ever seen.

The Queen is lying in state, and thousands of people are on the streets of the capital queuing to pay their respects.

It also means an unprecedented security response is required.

MI5 and GCHQ are working behind the scenes with counter terrorism police; the Metropolitan Police has reinforcements from forces across the country; and military personnel and civilian stewards are all playing a role.

Read more about the complex operation here.

It's been another night of mourners waiting their turn to see the Queen's coffin.

We've been bringing you interviews with several of those paying tribute throughout the next few hours.

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