For many, the day of the Queen's state funeral begins early in the morning.

Hundreds of Brits gathered in central London at dawn on Monday for one last look at the Queen's coffin.

"It's a big day in our history, it's part of our lives," says Susan Davies. The 53-year-old traveled to the capital from Essex with her husband and two teenagers.

Equipped with a chair and "lots of food," they persevere in the early morning chill to watch the midday funeral procession from Westminster Abbey to Wellington Arch near Buckingham Palace. "I'm going to tell my kids about this moment. I will tell them I was there!" says Davies' 14-year-old son Jack.

"I want to be part of history."

Calob Thompson got up even earlier.

"We wanted a front row seat," says the 20-year-old film student from Bedford, north London. He can't believe his plan worked. "We have the best seat with the best view. Fantastic!" he.

The mood is "pretty exciting, but also somber".

Some even spent the night outdoors to make sure they were up there.

Sleeping bags in front of the barriers in the Whitehall government district bear witness to this.

Bethany Beardmore has been here since nine o'clock Sunday night.

"It was cold and we didn't sleep," says the 26-year-old accountant. She kept herself awake with lots of sugar and caffeine. "There was such a great atmosphere, everyone was chatting."

Beardmore's brother is attending the state funeral as a grenadier guard.

The crowd is in good spirits.

When police officers come by, she applauds.

Also there is former soldier Jamie Page.

The 41-year-old served in the Iraq war.

At 5 a.m. he caught the train from Horsham, south of London.

"I swore allegiance to the Queen when I was sixteen," he says, his military medals glistening in the faint morning sun. "She was my boss.

She means everything to me."

The coffin containing Elizabeth II had been laid out in Parliament's Westminster Hall since Wednesday.

Hundreds of thousands of people filed past to pay their last respects to their queen.

At 6:30 a.m. local time, the hall was closed.

Chrissy Heerey was the last visitor at the coffin.

"It was an unbelievable feeling," says Heerey, a member of the Royal Air Force. She had stood in line all night, and she didn't want to miss a glimpse of the funeral procession. "It's a long day," she says.

"But that's nothing compared to what the Queen has done for our country."