Nation and world leaders pay respects to Queen at State funeral

King Charles III and his siblings – the Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex – marched behind their mother’s coffin as it travelled the short distance from Westminster Hall, where the Queen had been lying in state for four days, to the Abbey.

Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, seven, walked with their parents the Prince and Princess of Wales and were followed by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and other members of the royal family.

A single toll from Big Ben signalled the start of the service.

During his sermon, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby described the Queen as having touched “a multitude of lives” and being a “joyful” figure for many.

READ ALSO: City streets are deserted as Oxford prepares for Queen's funeral

He told mourners: “People of loving service are rare in any walk of life. Leaders of loving service are still rarer.

“But in all cases those who serve will be loved and remembered when those who cling to power and privileges are forgotten.”

Mr Welby also said that the Queen had declared on her 21st birthday “that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth”.

He added: “Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen.”

Among the hymns sung at the service, The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want, was also sung at the Queen’s wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in the abbey in 1947.

The other hymns were The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, Is Ended; and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling.

As the Abbey fell silent, the Queen’s Piper, Warrant Officer Class 1 (Pipe Major) Paul Burns, played the traditional lament Sleep, Dearie, Sleep. Also played were The Last Post, Reveille and the national anthem.

The Queen’s coffin was draped in the Royal Standard, with the wreath of flowers requested by the King.

Cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Highgrove House, they included rosemary, for remembrance, and myrtle cut from a plant which was grown from a sprig of myrtle in the Queen’s wedding bouquet.

During the service, Charles was visibly moved and looked close to tears as the national anthem was sung in the Abbey.

Prince George was also comforted by his mother, the Princess of Wales, during the service.

The wreath adorning the Queen’s coffin had a handwritten note from the King.

The message said: “In loving and devoted memory.”

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Following the service the coffin was taken by gun carriage to Wellington Arch at the corner of Hyde Park, before being transferred into a hearse for the journey to St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

A televised committal ceremony will take place in the chapel at 4pm followed by a private interment service attended by senior royals.

The Queen’s final resting place will be the King George VI memorial chapel, where her mother and father were buried, along with the ashes of her sister, Princess Margaret.

Prince Philip’s coffin will move from the Royal vault to the memorial chapel to join the Queen’s.

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