The queen's fans are many

One has to wonder if the stunning and decorous tribute Britons are paying to the late Queen Elizabeth, who continues to lie in state in Westminster Hall, will ever be seen again.

Day after day, the lines stretch for miles as commoners and cultural royalty alike — soccer star David Beckham got in line at 2 a.m. just like anyone else and was done paying his respects by mid-morning — queue up to say goodbye to a 96-year-old woman who was the de facto face of Britain since 1952.

I'm Marco della Cava, longtime feature writer for USA TODAY and one-time London correspondent, and our crack staff on the scene in the British capital continues to bring you the latest news as we inch closer towards the queen's midday (London time) funeral Monday.

As impressive as the ongoing outpouring has been, the queen's passing has also stoked growing conversations about Britain's colonialist past. Although the queen is largely considered to be a monarch who sought to move the country into a modern age that celebrated a Commonwealth of Nations, the wounds of centuries of colonial rule do not heal easily.

To the end, there are even calls for the staggering array of diamonds and jewels — in particular the fabled Cullinan diamond that takes center stage on the queen's purple crown — be returned to the countries in which they were mined, notably South Africa. 

We will keep a close watch on that developing storyline as well as all the doings in London and its outskirts as Queen Elizabeth makes a journey to her final resting place in Windsor.