Dedicated royal fans brave the cold and damp to bag a prime spot on The Mall for coronation

Tap above to watch video report by Simon Harris

Diehard royal fans are setting up camp in the Mall in the hope of securing a prime spot ahead of Saturday’s coronation. Official government guidance suggests the pavement viewing areas along the procession route will be closed until 6am on Saturday. But a handful of dedicated royalists have arrived in the Mall with camp beds and sleeping bags. Retired chef John Loughrey, from Streatham, south London, was one of the first to claim a kerbside spot. He said: "I plan to stay sleeping here for a full ten nights here because we've never seen a coronation before.

"There is nothing bigger than a coronation! It's cold, and you get damp and wet but we know we are doing our duty for the King and his queen.

"It means an awful lot to us."

The government’s website asks spectators not to arrive before 6am on Saturday May 6th.

Former air hostess Anne Daley travelled from her home in Cardiff in the early hours of this morning. She told ITV News the police had assured her she would not be moved, adding: "They said no tents, I can have a sleeping bag but not a tent. I asked what was the alternative if it was raining?

"The atmosphere is building up, people are keeping our spirits up, people are getting tired but I can go for a run in the morning to stretch my limbs.

"People are being so magnificent that want to join us and are getting their camping chairs. As far as food goes, people have brought us biscuits - but we have not got a coronation quiche!

"But I have a sleeping bag and inflatable pillow ad the police officer said if the worst comes to the worst you can come into police custody!"

She is hoping to raise money for a local hospice by charging tourists to pose for photographs in front of a life-sized cardboard cut out of the King and Queen. "People are donating money to Tŷ Hafan, a children's hospice in Wales," she added.Another retired chef, Sharon McEwan, from Kilburn also plans to spend Friday night in the open air adding:

"It is very exciting, it might be the last time we come to something like this.

"But I have been all over, I'm a royal fan! I still love The Queen and I love William and Kate and Meghan and Harry."

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