At 4.30pm on Sunday, the excitement along the packed Mall intensified as the union flag was replaced with the royal standard above Buckingham Palace.
The thousands of devoted royal fans gathered knew immediately it meant the Queen was in residence, and there was now every chance they would get to see her after all.
The 96-year-old monarch, who had been forced to miss two days of her record breaking jubilee due to suffering with her mobility, summoned all her strength to appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony with the future of the monarchy and bring the curtain down on four days of spellbinding celebrations.
