A Suffolk woman has described how a sense ‘of personal loss’ and realisation that she ‘will never see another Queen in her lifetime’ have motivated her to attend the lying-in-state.

Ardent royalist Claire Walker, 47, who lives in Stowmarket will be travelling down to London tomorrow (Wednesday) to watch the procession of the Queen’s coffin from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where she will lie in state for four days.

She said: “I am a huge Royalist so since the news broke I have really felt quite a sense of personal loss.

“The Queen has been a real constant in our lives. She has served the country loyally and faithfully for 70 years and she will be deeply missed.

“It is such a significant moment in history and we have a new King in Charles III and I will never see another Queen in my lifetime so I thought it was really important to go down and pay my respects.”

Her love for the Royals stems from her family- her late grandfather Charles Keeble, a former police sergeant and signalman in the Royal Navy, used to watch the Queen’s Speech every Christmas Day at 3pm.

Her brother, Bryan O’Keeffe, was also in the armed forces.

Mrs Walker, who works for the EADT’s parent company Newsquest, is planning to travel alone to the capital and is hoping to see the parade, which will pass along The Mall and Horse Guards Parade.

She is also planning to leave a floral tribute in Green Park, where many tributes have been laid and is also considering visiting Westminster Hall to see the coffin lying-in-state, though this will depend on queues as she will be returning to Suffolk the same day.

The Queen is due to remain at Westminster from 5pm tomorrow until 6.30am on Monday when she will be taken in procession to Westminster Abbey, where a state funeral will be held, starting at 11am.

Are you planning to pay your respects to the Queen? Share your stories with suffolkeditors@archant.co.uk