When King George V lay in state at Westminster Hall in January 1936, the queue of mourners grew on the second day. A Guardian review of Observer archive coverage reports that more than 128,000 people had passed the coffin by 10 p.m., bringing the two-day total to 238,000, while 20,000 were still waiting. An early-morning line stretched more than a quarter of a mile, joined by charwomen on their way home from work. On another day, 150,777 people had filed past by midnight, when the doors closed. The object of the wait was not a roadside view of the funeral procession but the chance to enter Westminster Hall and pass the flower-crowned coffin individually. National ceremony was converted into a sequence of personal turns at one entrance. The striking number is not only the total attendance, but the 20,000 people who remained in line at ten at night.