According to Britain’s culture minister Michelle Donelan, 250,000 mourners attended Queen Elizabeth’s lying-in-state at Westminster Hall in London on Tuesday.
“It’s approximately around the 250,000 mark. We’re just crunching those final numbers,” Donelan told Times radio. The full figures would be released in due course, she added.
She died Thursday at Balmoral Castle, her beloved summer residence in Scotland, where members of the royal family had rushed to her side after her health deteriorated. She was 96 years old.
Her 73-year-old son, King Charles III, immediately took the throne and issued a heartfelt statement from Balmoral, where he was with his wife, Camilla, the nation’s new Queen Consort.