Leicestershire woman is final person to pay respects to the late Queen as Lying in State ends

A woman from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire was the last person to see the late Queen lying-in-state at Westminster Hall before her state funeral.

Chrissy Heerey, a member of the Royal Air Force, visited the Queen's coffin shortly before 6:30 on Monday morning for the second time, as she felt she hadn't done it justice the first time.

Hundreds of thousands queued day and night to pay their respects to the late monarch before her funeral today (September 19).

People were first able to visit the late Queen lying in state last Wednesday, a day after she arrived back from Edinburgh, up until this early morning.

Ms Heerey said she felt privileged to be the last member of the public to pay their respects.

Speaking to ITV, she said: "I queued up at 4:45 yesterday afternoon. I actually went through at 1:15 this morning and because it went so quick and it was just an amazing experience and I just felt I didn't do the Queen justice, I wanted to go around again."

She adds: "I joined the end of the queue and remain at the end of the queue because I certainly didn't want to take the spot of somebody else wanting to go in before me if they closed it early because I'd already experienced that so I wasn't going to let anyone else miss out on that opportunity."

The RAF member said to be "the last person to pay my respects to the Queen felt like a real privilege to do that."

"It’s one of the highlights of my life and I feel very privileged to be here."