Law enforcement officials in London are preparing for unprecedented security measures at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Authorities estimate that between 750,000 and a million people will arrive in the UK to say goodbye to the Queen, Interfax reports citing British media.
“I don’t think the capital has experienced something like this. The security measures are as if we are organizing a marathon, a Notting Hill carnival, royal weddings and the Olympic Games at the same time," London Mayor Sadiq Khan commented on the situation.
British journalists call the queue to say goodbye to the Queen a "national phenomenon", reports the BBC. Now the waiting time in the queue has decreased to 10 hours, at the peak it was up to 15 hours. For example, football player David Beckham told ITV News that he stood in line for 12 hours to say goodbye to the Queen.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called it "deeply immoral" the decision of the British authorities not to invite representatives of Russia to mourning events in connection with the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
According to the diplomat, the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom informed the Russian Embassy in London about the decision of the British authorities to refrain from sending invitations to the Russian side to mourning events due to the Russian military invasion of Ukraine.
“We consider this British attempt to use the national tragedy, which has touched the hearts of millions of people around the world, for geopolitical purposes to settle scores with our country during the days of mourning, as deeply immoral,” Zakharova said in a comment published on the agency’s website.
Elizabeth II died on September 8 at the age of 96. Her funeral will take place on September 19.
