The Queen leaves Buckingham Palace for the last time in sombre procession

How different the scenes were yesterday. The Queen’s last journey from her London home to Westminster Hall not only showed in full display the pomp and circumstance the British are known for, but contained at its heart a grieving family walking behind its matriarch.

The Royal Family had spent Tuesday night in private with the Queen’s coffin, which had been flown down from Edinburgh, but yesterday they handed her to the care of the nation as her four day lying in state began.

The crowds which on Tuesday night had cheered the coffin’s arrival into the Palace gates stood in silence as the gun carriage emerged from them at 2.22pm to the sound of Beethoven’s Funeral March No 1.

Flanked by 10 former and serving armed forces equerries to the Queen, who were at her side throughout her reign, the coffin was adorned with flowers from Balmoral and Windsor along with the Imperial State Crown.

And, walking silently behind, were the four children of the Queen, the second time in three days they have dutifully marched behind their mother’s coffin and their fatigue and grief palpable.

This time, they were not alone but joined by William, the Prince of Wales, his brother Harry, and their cousin Peter Phillips, the son of Princess Anne.

Princess Margaret’s son the Earl of Snowdon, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and the Duke of Gloucester walked behind them, at the military pace of 75 steps a minute, reserved solely for funerals.

The comparisons to William and Harry’s walk behind Diana’s coffin 25 years ago are inevitable. That too, was a day which saw London basked in September sunshine and the two princes- then just boys - of the Royal Family forced to share their grief for the world to see.

But this time, Harry and William were joined, when the cortege arrived at Westminster Hall, by their wives Catherine and Meghan, as well as many other members of the extended Royal Family who all came together for the short service led by the Archbishop of Canterbury ahead of the Queen’s lying in state.

Harry, no longer a working royal, and his disgraced uncle Andrew were denied the chance to wear their military uniforms and a few minutes later when they passed the Cenotaph the royals in uniform saluted, while Harry bowed and Andrew performed “eyes right” and looked at the memorial.

And while there was some muted applause along the route from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, most of the crowd stood in sombre silence, punctuated by the tolling of Big Ben which sounded every minute.

The Queen's coffin was transported on the same gun carriage which carried both her mother and father on their respective final journeys.

And poignantly, cameras focussed on the stautes of King George VI and Elizabeth the Queen Mother outside Clarence House as the procession moved by.

Inside Westminster Hall - which has seen some of the most seismic moments in British history from the trial of King Charles I to the address by Nelson Mandela - the Queen’s coffin was gently borne onto the catafalque.

The bearer party which carried the Queen’s coffin into Westminster Hall, and provided an escort, were soldiers flown back from Iraq to take part in the ceremony, because of their unique association with the monarch.

The Guardsmen were from the 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards whose Company Commander was the Queen, and although a senior officer took day-to-day control, the former sovereign’s connection with her men was strong.

The Choir of Westminster Abbey and the Choir of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace provided the solemn soundtrack as members of the Royal Family stood watch over the woman who had not only been their Queen, but family matriarch.

After a half-hour service, they departed. For many of the royals, their public duties are now complete ahead of Monday’s funeral, giving them the opportunity, finally, to grieve for a few days in private.

But for the King, alongside his brothers and sister, there is still one last duty to be performed – the Vigil of the Princes, which will see them taking watch over the coffin at some point in the next few days.

They, alongside soldiers, will now rota a continuous watch to keep vigil over the Queen until the State Funeral, as the British public begin, in their thousands to say a final “Thank you Ma’am.”