CHRIS LLOYD joins the crowds outside Westminster Abbey for the Queen Mother's funeral. Read his full report in The Northern Echo tomorrow.

No tears, no red eyes. Just sad goodbyes. ''A fitting way to say farewell,'' says an elderly woman. ''Such a marvellous, marvellous lady,'' says her friend.

They turn from their barrier and, English to the last, pick up their litter, hoping for a bin to put it in.

Avuncular PC Bob, who's been charming the ladies all day, helps a well-dressed woman down from her awkward perch on the railings beside the Guildhall. ''I've seen them all, the Queen, Prince Charles and the young ones,'' she says. ''I've come from South Africa yesterday for this, and I've seen them all.

''Now where can I get a coffee? I'm freezing.''

They came, they queued, they saw, they said their fond farewells. And then life began to return to normal - although, abnormally, the Royal family finds, after the events of the last week, that their place in their subjects' hearts has been enhanced.

This was the Queen Mother's final duty and, having performed it, the televisions in the coffee shops around Westminster Abbey showed her heading for the final resting place in Windsor that she so richly deserves.