Husband and wife Glyn and Judy Yates were visiting Belfast from their home in Northallerton in North Yorkshire.

“It was absolutely marvellous, very heart-rending and it was very well deserved,” said Mrs Yates.

“You felt as if you were in among it all, it was beautiful.”

Members of the public visit a mural to Queen Elizabeth II on the Shankill Road in Belfast ahead of the national minute's silence in memory of Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday. A separate event on Monday saw hundreds of people gather outside Belfast City Hall to watch the funeral.

Mr Yates said the outpouring of grief for the Queen was entirely understandable.

“She deserves every second of what the country has given her, what the world has given her,” he said.

Despite the size of the crowd, silence pervaded. Some dressed in suits and black ties, others in T-shirts and jeans.

Veterans wore polished medals while tourists perched on the edge of sturdy suitcases.

Wearing a platinum jubilee T-shirt, and sitting on a stool draped in a Union flag, Simon Freedman struggled to hold back tears as the big screen showed members of the royal family singing the Lord Is My Shepherd.

For the 51-year-old from Coleraine, the Queen’s funeral held added poignancy.

He had travelled down to Belfast in part to pay tribute to the memory of his own mother, Olive Sarah Freedman, who was a big royal fan and died in 2020 from Covid-19 at the age of 79.

“The fact we couldn’t have a service because of the lockdown in 2020, today kind of did that as well for me,” he said.

“My mother’s favourite hymn was the Lord Is My Shepherd, so it was quite fitting.

“I knew when that hymn came on, I’d shed a tear.”

Nine-year-old Tom Murray, from east Belfast, was the young boy with the Paddington teddy.

“She was a great monarch and the longest reigning monarch,” he said.

“She helped a lot of charities as well, so she was a really, really good monarch.

“The funeral was very sad, the King looked like he was crying.”

Tom’s mother, Eleanor Smith, said she drew some comfort from watching the funeral with others.

“It was really emotional, it’s just a lovely fitting tribute to the Queen,” she said.

“My sister said she would be too emotional to come in, but I found that it sort of helped a bit, it helped to see the people here watching, you feel that sense of everybody joined together.”

North Yorkshire couple join mourners for Queen at 'beautiful' Belfast event