MOURNERS from across Yorkshire were among the masses who travelled to London for the Queen's funeral – and I was among those who descended on the Capital for the historic occasion, writes T&A reporter Natasha Meek.
From those I spoke to on the train from West Yorkshire to those who had gathered in London's Hyde Park, it was clear that everyone had a deep feeling of loss and a sense of occasion.
Many referenced the motherly presence of Queen Elizabeth II through her record 70-year reign and were keen to take their own small part in a day few will ever forget.
The Pomp and Circumstance of the occasion was something Horsforth mum Kavitha Nades wanted to pass down to her four children.
READ MORE: Queen's funeral recap: How Bradford said farewell to Her Majesty
Kavitha, who works at Bradford Royal Infirmary, caught the 7am train on Monday with Sahana, five, Ananya, seven, Rohan, nine, and Dhilan, 10.
Kavitha told us: "I do love all the Pomp and Circumstance and I thought it would be an experience for the kids to be in London for the funeral. Hopefully they will feel part of it and remember the day in years to come."
Ananya said: "I’ve picked lavender from my garden to bring to London for the Queen's funeral."
Sahana added: "Hopefully I’ll be able to see the soldiers walking past."
Dhilan enthused: "I’m excited to be part of the day but slightly nervous I’m going to get lost in the crowds."
READ MORE: Moving scenes as mourners pay final goodbye to Queen at city's cathedral
Rohan added: "I’m excited to be travelling to London to see things in person."
As 11am neared, people sat down on picnic blankets, coats and camping chairs in front of the large screens.
Hyde Park fell almost silent apart from the sound of children asking questions about Prince George's age or the horses.
Some people stood in the pathways, clearly too distracted by the picture of the Queen's coffin to sit down.
There was a sense in the air that the time for quiet reflection had already begun.
Moments after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby referenced The Queen's Covid-driven ode to Vera Lynn - 'we'll meet again' - it was somewhat symbolic that the clouds above London began to part for the first time that day.
"The sun shines for her," one viewer said, as the sound of bagpipes echoed across the green.
Emotions began to spill out quietly, even if it was a modest and swift sniffle.
A woman next to me pulled her glasses away from her head, quickly wiped away some tears and kissed her son on his head.
Sisters Ann-Marie and Caroline from Cleethorpes were left with similar emotions after witnessing the Queen lying-in-state on Sunday.
They made a last minute decision to watch the funeral in London, joined by Ann-Marie's daughter and her partner.
The siblings inherited a great respect for the Queen from their late mum, who was from Scarborough.
Ann-Marie said: "We came last night and we went to see the Queen. We wanted to come because she gave us 70 years of her service. She was a wonderful monarch. We're her people and that's why we're here. Part of us, we're here for our mum."
Recalling the Queen's character, Caroline said: "Always smiling, very cheeky. She had a great sense of humour."
Her sister said: "You'd often hear a quip. She was so quick witted. There's a seriousness to the monarch, there's duty, you have to be serious but at the end of the day she was a woman. She paved that way for the rest of us."
"In a man's world," Caroline added.
The sisters spent just short of 10 hours in the queue to say farewell to The Queen.
Ann-Marie said: "To be able to walk past and pay our respects personally, it felt very personal. It was so fast after we'd gone through the bag check."
Yorkshire was well represented among the 2,000 attendees personally invited to the Queen's state funeral service in Westminster Abbey - including Nancy O’Neill, a long-serving nurse from Bradford.
Ms O’Neill, the deputy chief officer and strategic director of transformation and change at Bradford District and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), was awarded an MBE for her services to the NHS, particularly during the pandemic
Speaking ahead of the event, Ms O’Neill, whose day had at 4.25am, said: “I think it is going to be surreal. I don’t think it’s really going to sink in until after we have finished."
Tina Leslie MBE, the Leeds-based founder of Freedom4Girls, was invited in honour of her efforts to tackle period poverty. She set off to London at 5.30am.
She said: "It’s a true honour. The Queen had always shown she was a people’s person, even though she led a privileged life, she had a deep understanding of the issues people faced, both here in the UK and around the world. The Queen was an amazing monarch and I am so proud to be representing West Yorkshire at the funeral today."
Carolyn Fitzgerald came down from Doncaster to celebrate her husband Lester being chosen to march in the procession.
She was joined by friends Dianne Spencer and Sharron Gartland.
After struggling to find a viewing point for the procession, the group found a spot in Hyde Park.
Lester served the Queen as part of the army and prison service for 50 years of her reign.
Many years ago he'd signed a document to say he would be happy to take part in royal events should he be needed, and picked up a special uniform.
Practice runs for the procession had been taking place daily for 10 hours at a time since last Wednesday, Carolyn said.
The special honour came after Lester attended the Queen's annual garden party.
He was yards away from Charles, then in his former role as the Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla.
"It was beautiful," Carolyn said.
"He [King Charles III] was lovely, really nice. They came out and spent a lot of time speaking to people, an hour or hour and a half. He was very personable."
Fellow royalist Sharron said: "He's got certain ways, certain characteristics but he'll carry on the good work his mum's done. That's how he's been brought up."
She added: "I love the royal family. I've always followed the royal family, I felt like she was one of our own. Somebody said it on the news, she was like a mum or grandma. I love watching old films of her when she was growing up, all the different eras. 96 and she was doing Zoom!"
Matthew Chapman from Holgate, York, bagged a place on The Mall near Buckingham Palace after travelling down at 3:30am by Megabus.
Matthew described it as one of those‘I was there moments’.
He told the T&A: "The main things I admired about the Queen was her resilience and consistency in all she did. She was like the nation's comfort blanket in times of need and it feels very strange to be moving forwards without that."
He got to see King Charles III, Prince of Wales William, Harry and Edward.
He said: "During the military part it felt quite intimidating and a show of the commonwealth, but the coffin part felt quite harrowing."
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