The Queen's state funeral: Moving pictures from Westminster Abbey as the nation mourns Queen Elizabeth II

A single toll from Big Ben signalled the start of the service at Westminster Abbey, where kings and queens have been crowned since 1066, and where the new monarch was sitting surrounded by the royal family he now leads.

King Charles III and his siblings – the Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex – had marched behind their mother’s coffin as it travelled the short distance from Westminster Hall, where the Queen had been lying in state for four days, to the ancient Abbey.

Tens of thousands have filled the capital to pay their last respects just a few hours after the last person had filed past the Queen’s coffin, bringing to a close the symbolic ritual.

Presidents and prime ministers from across the globe filled the Abbey, with US President Joe Biden among the mourners alongside France’s President Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, her counterpart from Canada Justin Trudeau, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Westminster Abbey was the venue for the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s 1947 wedding and now this ancient place of worship was the fitting venue for her funeral.

Here are a collection of moving pictures as guests paid their respects.