Britain said farewell to Queen Elizabeth II on Monday at a historic state funeral attended by world leaders, before a last ceremonial journey through London streets packed with sorrowful mourners.

Huge crowds gathered to watch as the queen’s flag-draped coffin, topped with the Imperial State Crown, her orb and sceptre, was carried slowly to a gun carriage from parliament’s Westminster Hall where it had lain in state since Wednesday.

Some watching in Hyde Park dabbed their eyes and others sobbed during the service, while later children were hoisted in the air or put on parents’ shoulders to see her coffin pass.

There was also applause among the crowd for a grand state funeral of pageantry and rousing music that captured how many felt for the queen, who died on September 8 aged 96. She had been on the throne for 70 years, meaning most Britons have known no other monarch.

Header image: The coffin of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth is pulled along The Mall by Royal Navy service personnel during the funeral procession, on the day of the state funeral and burial of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, in London on Monday. — Reuters