Grief and pageantry mark final farewell to Queen Elizabeth

WINDSOR (England) Sept 19 (Reuters): Queen Elizabeth's coffin arrived at Windsor Castle, her final resting place, on Monday after a day of matchless pageantry that drew world leaders to her funeral and hundreds of thousands of people to the streets to say farewell to a revered monarch, according to report filing at 10.00pm.
Well-wishers lined the route her hearse took from London, throwing flowers, cheering and clapping as it passed from the city to the English countryside that she so loved much.
Thousands more had crammed into the capital to witness the procession and funeral, in a fitting tribute to Britain's longest-serving monarch who won global respect during 70 years on the throne.
Inside the majestic Westminster Abbey where the funeral was held, some 500 presidents prime ministers, foreign royal family members and dignitaries, including Joe Biden of the United States, were among the 2,000 congregation.
Later the attention switched to St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where some 800 guests attended a committal service ahead of her burial.
It concludes with the crown, orb and sceptre - symbols of the monarch's power and governance - being removed from the coffin and placed on the altar.
The Lord Chamberlain, the most senior official in the royal household, then breaks his 'Wand of Office', signifying the end of his service to the sovereign, and places it on the casket.
Later in the evening, in a private family service, the coffin of Elizabeth and her husband of more than seven decades, Prince Philip, who died last year aged 99, will be buried together in the same chapel where her parents and sister, Princess Margaret, also rest.
At the funeral, Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, told those present that the grief felt by so many across Britain and the wider world reflected the late monarch's "abundant life and loving service".
"Her late majesty famously declared on a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth," he said.
"Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love that we have seen."