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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Olivia Williams

Tears, singing and applause on emotional day of Queen's funeral

Hundreds of thousands of people travelled to the capital to be part of a moment in history.

On Monday, September 19, Queen Elizabeth II made her final journey. The funeral took place at 11am at Westminster Abbey and Her Majesty the Queen will be buried with her late husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, at the King George VI memorial chapel, located inside St George's Chapel.

People from across the UK - and the world - travelled to London to take part in the historic occasion, including mourners from Merseyside. Dot Lloyd and her daughter, Jenny, were among those boarding the 7am train from Liverpool Lime Street down to London. Dot, 70, told the ECHO : “I’ve loved the Queen all my life and my daughter’s always said if anything ever happened to the Queen she’d take me to London. What other person works for 70 years?”

READ MORE: Queen's Liverpool right hand woman attends her funeral

The ECHO also spoke to people camping overnight in St James's Park, near Buckingham Palace. Friends Mandy Ward and Cathy Ganner said they had given up their hotel room for the night to make sure they got a prime spot and to soak up the atmosphere.

Mandy said: “We just thought she was an incredible lady and she was with us all our lives and just thought she was absolutely amazing. It means a lot and we wanted to lay our respects.”

Cathy added: “She forms part of our identity. We don’t have much to be patriotic about in the UK, but the Royal Family is our own unique identity from the rest of the world. I am here to show support for the Monarchy.”

As a reporter for the ECHO, I got a chance to travel to The Mall to speak with people, see the procession and watch this history-defining moment. I arrived on The Mall at 6am, where it was already busy and a number of entrances were closed.

However I managed to enter via Green Park, which opened shortly after 6am. People were prepared with stools, chairs, blankets and plenty of snacks. Many mourners the ECHO spoke to said it was a communal atmosphere and one they were all celebrating together.

Annette and eight-year-old Olivia Reid had travelled from Northern Ireland to mark the occasion. It was Olivia's first time in London and she was able to see King Charles III in previous days, with mum Annette saying she was "made up" to see the new monarch.

A live broadcast was played through speakers on The Mall, so those waiting for the funeral procession did not miss out. As trumpeters played The Last Post, marking the end of the service, the crowd of thousands fell quiet - a two minute silence in honour of our longest reigning monarch.

The National Anthem signalled the end of the silence and the crowd erupted, thousands of voices uniting to sing God Save the King. Catching a glimpse of the procession was difficult, but as the Queen's coffin passed, people wept - mourners who had waited hours for this moment finally overcome by the emotions of the day.

A woman standing next to me hugged her children and others were in tears. Speaking after the procession Tracy, from Surrey, told the ECHO: "It was a very emotional day for me, I really appreciate the service the Queen gave us all those years.

"We are very much Royalists and we wish the new King well and we wish the whole Royal Family well. But she is a hard act to follow."

As the procession walked by rounds of applause broke out, a final act of thanks for the Queen's extraordinary life of service.

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