Inside Westminster Hall: The somber scene as mourners pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth II

LONDON – One by one, they bowed and curtsied.

Some crossed themselves or gently fell to their knees.

Others stood rock-still and whispered a few words of prayer, respect, memory.

Yet others pushed prams or tried to quietly explain to open-mouthed children what all the fuss was about. They were old and young, white and Black and Asian, from the U.K. mostly, but also from all over Africa, the subcontinent and beyond.

They dressed in dark, somber hues; also in outrageous oranges and yellows, even shorts. They held hands, fought back and then wiped away tears, consoled one another with arms around shoulders and, despite the – novel for many – grandiosity of Westminster Hall's high-vaulted medieval timber roof and a nearby crown sparkling with 3,000 diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, pearls and rubies, looked inward.

USA TODAY on Thursday joined a few select media outlets for an inside look at Queen Elizabeth II's lying-in-state at Westminster Hall, where members of the public were filing past her casket, as they have been doing since Wednesday evening.

Queen Elizabeth II funeral: The queen will soon lie in state in Westminster Hall. These are the first people in the line.

There were a few ground rules: no phones, no interviews, no engaging mourners. Those attending as press were asked to wear formal clothing, with black or dark ties for men.

Reporters were ushered into the hall through a series of backdoor hallways and side entrances that corroborated longstanding reports that the Palace of Westminster, one of London's most famous landmarks, is looking a little tired.

"There's no heat, the roof leaks, we all have to plug our computers into two sockets or we risk killing all the electrics," quipped one reporter from a British newspaper as journalists were led past heavily-armed security staff, parliamentary aides, lawmakers, cleaners and various others in hard-to-identify ceremonial robes and dress.

Westminster Hall is the largest of the buildings that comprise the Palace of Westminster, or Houses of Parliament as the compound is known generally. It was built in the year 1097, during the reign of William II, the son of William the Conqueror – Rufus. On Monday, the queen's casket will be moved to Westminster Abbey, for her funeral. Later that day, the queen will be laid to rest alongside her husband, mother, father and sister within St. George's Chapel, at Windsor Castle, about 30 miles away.

More: Your visual guide to Queen Elizabeth II's carefully planned funeral events

Still, the queen's casket on Thursday sat on a central spot in the ancient hall surrounded by six-feet-thick stone walls, large imposing arches and windows – some of them stained glass – that cast alternating patterns of light and dark. Several discreet mounted TV cameras flanked the scene because the lying-in-state is also being broadcast.

The queen's casket was draped in the Royal Standard, a flag in laymen's terms. It has three gold lions that represent England, a red lion symbolizing Scotland and a harp personifying Ireland. (Northern Ireland, for reasons not immediately clear to this reporter, is not represented on the royal flag even though it is part of the U.K.)

On top of the flag was the Imperial State Crown (yes, THE crown, all 2.3 pounds of mega-bling) and a wreath of white roses and dahlias.

The monarch's orb (a Christian cross mounted on a globe to symbolize the Christian world) and her scepter (a long gold rod with her royal insignia) rested on top of the casket, which itself sat on a raised purple platform known as a catafalque.

The catafalque was flanked by four large, lit candles.

All of this, in turn, was placed on a burgundy-colored dais that was encircled by The King's Body Guards of The Honorable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms, The Royal Company of Archers, The Yeomen of the Guard assisted by the Yeomen Warders of the Tower of London and by Officers of the Household Division.

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The guards and archers – there were 10 directly watching over the casket – were there in what Buckingham Palace describes as "continuous vigil."

Each "watch" lasts six hours.

Individual guards and archers were swapped out for new ones waiting in the wings every 20 minutes. This involved one set of guards and archers slow-walking from a far corner of Westminster Hall onto the burgundy dais until they were standing right next to the group waiting to be relieved, who then slow-walked off.

To kick all this off, a guard standing on a nearby internal balcony banged the floor with some kind of staff, another piece of rich pageantry in the ocean's worth of pageantry that accompanies royal family births, weddings, deaths and everything in between.

When this action was not happening, the guards and archers were so still they resembled toys. But when it was, the public were asked to stop moving through the hall.

Some could be seen looking around and marveling at the quite literally priceless gemstones sparkling atop the queen's casket. Others looked up to the heavens or in and around the cavernous space. Westminster measures 17,000-square feet.

There were few sounds, save the banging staff and clicking noise – every 20 minutes – of the guards' slip-proof boots as they traipsed on and off the dais.

The size of the public line to view the queen's casket, which is closed, has ebbed and flowed since its opening Wednesday evening. The line was briefly as long as 10 miles, according to The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It has been as short as 2 miles. Wait times have ranged from half a day to 30-plus hours.

There are no confirmed figures on how many members of the public will, ultimately, turn up to pay their respects to the U.K.'s longest-serving monarch. But British authorities have estimated that about a million people may try to do so leading up to Monday's funeral, which is expected to see some 500 dignitaries attend in person, including President Joe Biden, and be watched by several billion people around the world.

As they made their way past the queen's casket to exit the hall, most of the people who braved the lines and wait times and were then observed by this reporter appeared to project a look that said: "well, that was worth it."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Inside Westminster Hall as queen lies in state mourners pay respects