The Queen was at peace last night.
After the mourning and majesty, the symbolism and solemnity, Her Majesty was laid to rest next to her beloved Prince Philip in St George’s Chapel Windsor.
The last moments of a momentous day were intimate, tender and humbling: a family coming together to pay its final respects.
For the billions of viewers around the world yesterday was a marvel of ceremony and pageantry.
For the Royals it was also a time of loss, reflection and pain.
We said farewell to our figurehead, they said farewell to their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
As they grieve they can take comfort from the huge outpouring of affection and admiration for the Queen we have witnessed over the last 12 days.
It could be seen in the millions who lined the streets yesterday, in the sea of flowers laid at the royal residences and in the tens of thousands of people who queued for hours to witness the Queen lying-in-state.
And it could be seen in how the world came to London for the state funeral.
The unprecedented gathering of monarchs, presidents and premiers showed the esteem in which Her Majesty was held across the globe.
They came to mourn a head of state who for 70 years had reigned with compassion, dignity and tact.
They came to honour someone who through her grace and wisdom had brought people and nations closer together.
And they came to pay tribute to someone who embodied the ideas of commitment, duty and service.
In a time of brashness and bombast, a time of selfies and self-aggrandisement, the Queen quietly demonstrated there was another way to conduct yourself.
She did this by being selfless, dignified and tolerant.
Her Majesty understood the necessity of change but also the importance of tradition.
That tradition flowed through the magnificent service in Westminster Abbey - a glorious representation of our culture and history.
It was also present in the procession of the Queen’s coffin to Windsor Castle.
The state funeral was a masterpiece of flawless pageantry and meticulous planning.
However at the heart of the huge undertaking was a people united in grief and affection for our longest-serving monarch.
The unity could be seen in the Abbey as crowned heads and commoners, charity workers, politicians, dignitaries and celebrities came together to commemorate a remarkable life.
This was the Queen’s finest legacy.
She reminded us of our collective ties and rekindled our spirit of togetherness.
At the heart of everything she did, every speech she made, every event she attended was her great love for her country.
That love was reciprocated yesterday as the nation said a heartfelt farewell.
Those who helped organise yesterday’s ceremonies deserve our thanks.
The armed forces, the police, the clergy, the civil servants and the hundreds of volunteers did Her Majesty and the country proud.
Yesterday we closed the page on the second Elizabethan age and prepared ourselves for new chapter in our nation’s history.
Having lost such a constant in our lives it is understandable that we face the future with some trepidation.
Our guide should be the qualities the Queen herself so personified: goodness, humour and hope.
