The UK's 10-day state mourning came to an end with national flags back at full mast across government buildings on Tuesday, a day after Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral in London and a private burial ceremony in Windsor.
The royal family will continue to observe another week of mourning announced by King Charles III, who flew to Scotland with Queen Consort Camilla for a period of private mourning. Senior royals are not expected to carry out any public duties during the extended mourning period and the flags at royal residences will remain at half-mast till next Tuesday.
The Queen, Britain's longest-serving monarch, died peacefully at her Balmoral Castle residence in Scotland on September 8. She was laid to rest beside her late husband, Prince Philip, in a private burial service at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The government said over 250,000 people had turned out to queue for many hours over the past week to file past the Queen Lying-in-State at Westminster Hall ahead of her state funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday.
"The queue was phenomenal. It was a real team effort to enable people to have that moment to say goodbye. I want to thank everyone involved, UK Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan told the BBC.
The Mayor of London's office said an estimated 80,000 people were in Hyde Park to watch the funeral events on Monday, with several thousand gathered around large screens in all parts of the UK. The route from London to Windsor was lined with an estimated 100,000 people, according to Thames Valley Police.
President Droupadi Murmu represented the Indian government at the state funeral, which was attended by over 500 world leaders dubbed the largest gathering of global heads of state and government in history.
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About 100 presidents and heads of government were in the Abbey including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. Royal families from around the globe were also attended, including kings, queens and emperors from Denmark, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, Malaysia and Jordan.
It was a very moving, sombre and emotional ceremony and a real honour to represent Britain's Hindu community at the funeral, said Rajnish Kashyap, General Secretary of the Hindu Council UK, who formed part of a multi-faith procession at the funeral.
It involved a spectacular day of ceremonial events that included a grand procession through London and on the approach to the Queen's final resting place in Windsor Castle. Millions around the world watched her coffin lowered into the Royal Vault at St George's Chapel after the Instruments of State the Imperial Crown, Orb and Sceptre were removed as a symbolic end of an era.
The private burial, attended only by close family, coincided with the release of a photograph of the Queen walking in Balmoral, Scotland, in 1971.
May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest. In loving memory of Her Majesty The Queen. 1926 - 2022, the palace tweeted with the photograph on Monday evening.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, said she was "hugely honoured" to have been invited to form a government by the late Queen just two days before she passed away. Truss was the late Queen's 15th Prime Minister, her first being war-time leader Sir Winston Churchill.
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