The lying-in-state, my experiences as one of those who queued to see it

I suppose that I had more or less taken leave of my senses as I set out for Bermondsey on Saturday to queue for the Queen���s lying-in-state. The decision was a mixture of bravado, instinct and careful plotting. Hoping to evade various bans and restrictions, I had turned my old waxed jacket into an item of luggage, its huge pockets stuffed with books, in case of boredom, and weighed down with a phone bank and a wriggling mass of wires, because my mobile would certainly go flat on me during the l...