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| The Queen's coffin is lying in state at Westminster Hall |
A friend of mine got into the line at 4am wait for hours to file past the Queen's coffin at Westminster Hall.
But a delegation of Chinese officials won't have the privilege of paying their respects to the late monarch.
House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle refused the request due to Chinese sanctions against five British MPs and two peers.
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| There is an up to eight-hour wait to pay respects |
That led to China's ambassador to the UK being banned from Parliament -- a move which has now been extended to a Chinese delegation that wanted to pay their respects to Queen Elizabeth who is lying in state until Monday.
Control of Westminster Hall is shared by the Lord Great Chamberlain, who is appointed by the monarch, and the speakers of both the Commons and the Lords. They decide who is allowed in -- and not.
Nevertheless, Chinese President Xi Jinping has been invited to the funeral on Monday, to the uproar of seven MPs and peers, who said it was "wholly inappropriate" for the Chinese government to be represented given its human rights record.
"You cannot have a Golden Age, normal relations, with a country that has now been exposed as committing the sorts or atrocities it has, not least the genocide against the Uyghurs, the oppression going on in Tibet for the last 60, 70 years, and now what we see going on in Hong Kong as well," said former Tory minister Tim Laughton.
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| The Queen put on the charm offensive in 2015 |
And to think the Queen hosted Xi at Buckingham Palace in 2015, rolling out the red carpet in a bid to sweet talk Beijing into 30 billion English pounds of business, or so then prime minister David Cameron hoped.
Seven years later his party is condemning Xi's invite to the Queen's funeral...
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