At the entrance to London's Southwark Park, near the spot where the queue to see Queen Elizabeth lying in state finally ends, there is a sign warning of a 14-hour minimum wait from that point.
For those intent on joining the queue on Friday morning the message that flashed up on the electronic screen became even more disconcerting than the prospect of spending most of the day trundling along the line until eventually reaching the Palace of Westminster.
In capital letters it read: "Lying in state queue is currently paused. Please do not attempt to join until it resumes."
The message from the government's Culture Department soon got around that the park was at capacity and would likely pause for six hours.
Those entering the park were left with a "stick or twist" choice about carrying on.
Marshals overseeing the line said it stopped moving for about half an hour in the morning but resumed its slow march thereafter to Westminster Hall.
They included Otiliah Nyamande, 71, who travelled from Zimbabwe to see the queen lying in state.
“It is a privilege to see the queen. When she became queen I was 2 years old. Now I know I am old,” she said, fiddling with her scarf as the golden leaves crunched under foot.
“Whatever is going to happen I am going to wait. I have water but I will look for something to eat," said Ms Nyamande, who is staying with family in London.
“She was a leader from God. I love my queen and I want to see her. I will wait and see how I manage because I am old. I am 71.
"I thought I would never get the chance to see the queen,” she says, breaking out into the old version of the British national anthem, God Save the Queen.
Kate Wright was among others who had heard the queue was paused, but thought she would take a chance and come to try to join the line anyway. She set off from Chichester with her eight year-old son and husband Ian.
"You could see all the emotion on TV and I wanted to be part of it. I have been crying for days. I just felt this overwhelming feeling that I needed to be here," she said.
"I wanted to just come. We were well prepared to get the train home if we had to."
Others came on their own, brimming with energy and well prepared for a long wait.
Deborah Fox, 63, from Kent, left Canterbury at 11am to reach London. She heard the queue was paused just as she was boarding the train.
“I thought shall I take a leap of faith or not. I got this far, but I anticipate the 6 hour pause and the 14 hour queue might have an impact on what I am doing. But I am determined," she said, shortly after joining the queue at around 1pm.
“She has been part of my life for all my life. So part of it in terms of she has been there, a constant beacon to the world.
“I know have the opportunity. I am not bound by work or any commitments and I thought if I don’t grab the opportunity, I might regret it," said Ms Fox.
“I have snacks. I must admit I have eaten half of them already. But I feel I am fuelled up for the next 14 hours.
"My children are concerned I am on my own and I said I am not on my own."
Sharon Robinson, 60, who is from London originally but now lives on the south coast, also travelled to London alone to see the queen.
“My son told me the queue had been paused when I was on the train. I thought oh dear but I have committed now, so I am going to go," she said.
“I am not a massive royalist but I have always followed the royal family. And my mother was a great fan of the queen, which is partly why I am coming today. We are a family from London, my mother loved the queen and I just felt it was the right thing to do."
Gayle Farrell-Lymer, 47, who was clutching a plastic bag filled with bottled of water, a coke, a power bank to charge her phone, was 45 minutes into her long wait, but at peace with the thought of the journey ahead.
She travelled to Dundee from her home in Birmingham to see the queen's cortege passing through the city and wanted to see her lying in state.
“We have been here about 40 minutes since we came into the park. It’s a long walk round all the rails. We came from Birmingham and when we were on the train we heard the news they had closed the gates. We thought we are already on the way, we’re going and that’s it.
“As we were walking back there one of the marshals said to us don’t rush, it’s open again.
“I suppose it was just to allow a bit of the build-up to go down. It’s been OK to be fair. It's moving quite fast."
She said the queen was a "wonderful lady".
"You don’t realise when you are young just how important she was. As you get older and you appreciate things more you really see how much she has done and achieved in life, how the legacy will live on.
“We lived through it, all of the time she was there.
“We are glad to be here today and glad they opened up the gates. I think we would have waited to see if they opened again anyway. We had planned for the long haul.
“We will just see how we go and we will get to see some lovely sites on the day. We will get to see the big sites at night time. I have never seen them in the dark before.”
Officials announced they had paused the queue to see Queen Elizabeth II lying in state on Monday morning for at least six hours after it reached the end of the line in Southwark Park in Bermondsey.
Mourners were told not to attempt to join until it reopens again later. Waiting times were estimated to be at least 14 hours.
"Entry [to the queue] will be paused for at least 6 hours," Britain's culture department said on Twitter.
"Please do not attempt to join the queue until it reopens."
But marshals said the queue only stopped moving for 30 minutes.
"The queue hasn’t been paused. We were paused here for about half an hour earlier, but we seem to have, whether there was a miscommunication or what we don’t know,” said the former soldier, who asked not to be named as he interrupted by the sound of his ringtone, set to the British Grenadiers, the regimental march.
“We were straight back into it.”
The queue snaked its way all the way from Southwark Park in central south-east London to Westminster Hall, where the monarch is lying in state.
The accessible queue was also very busy by late morning, officials said.
"Time slots for this afternoon have now filled up. There are long wait times Please consider this before making your way to the accessible queue," the culture department tweeted.
The queue, which was paused at 9.50am, was about eight kilometres long at the time, according to the culture department's live queue tracker.
About 750,000 people are expected to file past the queen's coffin before the doors to Westminster Hall close to the public early on Monday, the day of the state funeral.
What are the rules for attending the queen's lying in state?
The government urged people to “dress appropriately for the occasion to pay your respects”, banning clothes “with political or offensive slogans”.
“Please respect the dignity of this event and behave appropriately. You should remain silent while inside the Palace of Westminster,” it added.
Queue-jumpers and anyone drunk will be removed by stewards and police patrolling the lines.
Visitors will also face airport-style security checks, with tight restrictions on what can be taken in.
Flowers, tributes, candles, flags, photos, hampers, sleeping bags, blankets, folding chairs and camping equipment are all banned, with only one small bag with a simple opening or zip permitted for each person.
What to bring to Queen's lying in state?
Official guidance suggests that people should bring suitable clothing for the weather, food and drinks to have while queuing, a portable power bank for their mobile phone and any essential medication.
Only bags smaller than 40 centimetres by 30cm by 20cm will be allowed into the hall.
Larger bags can be left at the bag drop-off centre, but capacity is limited and waiting for a space will increase people’s queuing time, the guidelines stated.
Flasks or water bottles, except clear water bottles that must be emptied of their contents before the security search point, are prohibited inside, as are weapons, whistles, smoke canisters, air-horns and similar items.
The queen’s coffin is guarded around the clock by units from the Royal Company of Archers and Gentlemen at Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard, at Westminster Hall.
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
Players Selected for La Liga Trials
U18 Age Group
Name: Ahmed Salam (Malaga)
Position: Right Wing
Nationality: Jordanian
Name: Yahia Iraqi (Malaga)
Position: Left Wing
Nationality: Morocco
Name: Mohammed Bouherrafa (Almeria)
Position: Centre-Midfield
Nationality: French
Name: Mohammed Rajeh (Cadiz)
Position: Striker
Nationality: Jordanian
U16 Age Group
Name: Mehdi Elkhamlichi (Malaga)
Position: Lead Striker
Nationality: Morocco
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UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (c), Chamani Senevirathne (vc), Subha Srinivasan, NIsha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Esha Oza, Ishani Senevirathne, Heena Hotchandani, Keveesha Kumari, Judith Cleetus, Chavi Bhatt, Namita D’Souza.
AUSTRALIA SQUAD v SOUTH AFRICA
Aaron Finch (capt), Shaun Marsh, Travis Head, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Adam Zampa
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
READ MORE ABOUT CORONAVIRUS
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
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MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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6.30pm: Emirates Holidays Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (Dirt), 1,900m
7.05pm: Arabian Adventures Maiden (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
7.40pm: Emirates Skywards Handicap (TB), Dh82,500 (D), 1,200m
8.15pm: Emirates Airline Conditions (TB), Dh120,000 (D), 1,400m
8.50pm: Emirates Sky Cargo (TB), Dh92,500 (D)1,400m
9.15pm: Emirates.com (TB), Dh95,000 (D), 2,000m
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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6pm: The Pointe - Conditions (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,400m
6.35pm: Palm West Beach - Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (T) 1,800m
7.10pm: The View at the Palm - Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.45pm: Nakeel Graduate Stakes - Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
8.20pm: Club Vista Mare - Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,900m
8.55pm: The Palm Fountain - Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 1,200m
9.30pm: The Palm Tower - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,600m
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Manchester United 2
Anthony Martial 30'
Scott McTominay 90 6'
Manchester City 0
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Hydrogen: Market potential
Hydrogen has an estimated $11 trillion market potential, according to Bank of America Securities and is expected to generate $2.5tn in direct revenues and $11tn of indirect infrastructure by 2050 as its production increases six-fold.
"We believe we are reaching the point of harnessing the element that comprises 90 per cent of the universe, effectively and economically,” the bank said in a recent report.
Falling costs of renewable energy and electrolysers used in green hydrogen production is one of the main catalysts for the increasingly bullish sentiment over the element.
The cost of electrolysers used in green hydrogen production has halved over the last five years and will fall to 60 to 90 per cent by the end of the decade, acceding to Haim Israel, equity strategist at Merrill Lynch. A global focus on decarbonisation and sustainability is also a big driver in its development.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Primera Liga fixtures (all times UAE: 4 GMT)
Friday
Real Sociedad v Villarreal (10.15pm)
Real Betis v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Barcelona (8.15pm)
Levante v Deportivo La Coruna (10.15pm)
Girona v Malaga (10.15pm)
Las Palmas v Atletico Madrid (12.15am)
Sunday
Espanyol v Leganes (8.15pm)
Eibar v Athletic Bilbao (8.15pm)
Getafe v Sevilla (10.15pm)
Real Madrid v Valencia (10.15pm)
MATCH INFO
Day 1 at Mount Maunganui
England 241-4
Denly 74, Stokes 67 not out, De Grandhomme 2-28
New Zealand
Yet to bat
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
