Standing near the Mall in central London, where the procession with the Queen’s coffin will pass en route to Windsor, Jan Gard, 68, said the funeral had stirred up an emotional outpouring for her.
First there was sadness at the Queen’s death, then the poignant symbolism of the funeral crowd singing the British national anthem “God Save the King” as Charles III became the new monarch.
I had to keep telling myself it was the king, not the queen,” said Gard, from Kent in south-east England.
The service “was magnificent because she (the queen) was a Christian and served God and his people,” Gard said.
She added that when she saw the Queen’s coffin on the livestream, “It really hit me. I was born in the year of her coronation so that means something to me.”