The chimes of the Big Ben fell silent and hymns rang out as the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II was carried into Westminster Abbey for the state funeral. The coffin, draped with the Royal Standard, was adorned with flowers from the King's royal homes and the Instruments of State made up of the diamond-encrusted Imperial State Crown and the orb and sceptre, which were gifted to the Queen at her coronation in the same Abbey in 1953.

The hour-long service included a collection of traditional hymns and new pieces of choral music created especially for the occasion. Lessons from the Bible were read by Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland and British Prime Minister Liz Truss, following which came the hymn, 'The Lord's My Shepherd' which had also been sung at the wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947.

"Her Late Majesty famously declared in a 21st birthday broadcast that her whole life would be dedicated to serving the nation and Commonwealth. Rarely has such a promise been so well kept. Few leaders receive the outpouring of love we have seen,” said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, in his sermon.

As the clock struck 11 am local time, the Queen's eldest son King Charles III followed the coffin which had been lying in state at Westminster Hall since last Wednesday in solemn procession, accompanied by his sons Princes William and Harry, and siblings Princess Anne and Princes Andrew and Edward.

William's children, nine-year-old Prince George and seven-year-old Princess Charlotte, were among the youngest members of the royal procession, who walked between their parents, the Prince and Princess of Wales. There was military precision in the ceremony following days of rehearsals by the nearly 6,000 armed forces personnel involved in the grand ceremony.

The service, which concluded with a two-minute nationwide silence and the National Anthem, 'God Save the King', marked the culmination of the first part of the funeral. The coffin was then borne in procession in the state gun carriage used for royal funerals towards Wellington Arch in central London to be taken by the state hearse to Windsor. A Committal Service will take place at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, where the Queen will be laid to rest with her late husband in a private burial ceremony.

After being pulled more than a mile (1.6 kilometres) from Westminster Abbey on a gun carriage by 142 Royal Navy sailors, the coffin was transferred to a hearse at Wellington Arch, near Buckingham Palace.

Dozens of Buckingham Place staffers stood in a neat line in the palace courtyard, and many bowed or curtseyed as the procession passed by. The monarch's coffin will go by car the 20 miles (32 kilometres) to Windsor Castle.

Dense crowds packed the route through the heart of ceremonial London and thousands more people are lining the more workaday suburban roads the hearse will take on its journey to Windsor.