Today is truly the end of an era for Britain. The funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother draws a line under a generation of royalty and severs a link with 101 years of history.

There are other people still surviving whose lives have also spanned the entire 20th century, and they are to be cherished by those who are fortunate enough to know them. But the Queen Mother is the last major public figure to have been able to say that she was there when the calendar turned from 1900 to 1901 and from 2000 to 2001.

Her life has not only been long. It has been fulfilling too, despite the loss of her beloved husband 50 years ago. She has radiated optimism and good humour which, combined with a powerful sense of duty and lashings of old-style courtesy, endeared her to the British people and helped her to retain their affection over decades during which the Royal family, as an institution, was buffeted by controversy.

The world today pays its respects to this remarkable woman with a Westminster Abbey funeral service crowded with heads of state and public figures from all around the world - a world which changed so much in the past century while she remained constant, a symbol of stability amid all the doubt.

Bradford is marking the occasion with a special service at the Cathedral and with the closure of many shops and stores while the funeral service takes place. And tomorrow, life will go on as usual. But the world will be the poorer for the loss of this extraordinary woman who meant so much to so many ordinary people.