OUR thoughts are with the Royal Family today as they attend the funeral of the Queen Mother.

To come to terms with the loss of its most senior member is difficult for any family. The Royal Family has had to endure its loss in the full gaze of the public.

But it has managed to find the balance between the need for private grief and the need to recognise the public's genuine affection for the Queen Mother.

The pageantry of Friday's procession and the lying in state in Westminster Hall have allowed hundreds of thousands of ordinary people to pay their respects.

But amongst the ceremonial trappings, there have been touching and tender moments when we have been reminded that, while she was the nation's Queen Mother, on a personal level she was someone's much-loved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

Like Prince Charles's TV interview, when he spoke of his "magical grandmother" and her laughter.

Like last night in Westminister Hall, when the Queen Mother's coffin was flanked by her four grandsons, recreating a poignant moment in history 65 years earlier.

And like the Queen's broadcast, in which she recalled the number of people coping with family loss she had tried to comfort during her long reign. Now it was the turn of the public to comfort her.

She will draw on that comfort at the funeral service today, which promises not only to reflect the loss of a much-loved figure, but also to reflect her long life and her devoted service to her country.

It will be a service of thanksgiving as well as sadness.

It is fitting that either in Westminster Abbey or via our television screens, we will be able to join in the farewell to one of the most loved and respected figures of modern times.

But it is also fitting that her close family will be able to say its farewell to her in the intimacy and privacy of a chapel dedicated to the memory of her beloved husband.