A deferential hush fell over the crowd in Newcastle as 98 sailors from the Sovereign’s Guard pulling the Royal Navy gun carriage bearing the Queen’s coffin stopped outside Westminster Abbey.
It coincided with the very moment a large flock of Old Eldon Square pigeons flapped over the heads of mourners, taking their position on the war memorial to get a bird’s eye view of the big screen.
Veterans were at their posts on the corners of the Portland stone pedestal having spent the morning guarding the near century old cenotaph should any demonstrators be thinking about sharing any anti-Royal sentiments.
Not today. Neither the time nor the place.
As the second Elizabethan age came to an end, the nation stopped to reflect on a life of dedicated service from the UK’s longest ever serving monarch.
Read more: How the North East paid tribute to the Queen in 49 sombre pictures
Former servicemen unable to make the 250-mile trip for the funeral felt compelled to pay their respects to ‘The Boss’, the woman they swore an oath to protect as they put their lives on the line for the country.
They said watching the giant screening, with like-minded others, as well as people from across the community, gave them the same sense of camaraderie as if they were there.
Seventy-year-old Robert Lyall, from Hebburn, who served with the Royal Artillery said: “She was my boss and I had a lot of admiration and respect for her so I had to be here.
“She served in the army during the Second World War so she was a veteran as well and that is why we are here. She did such a great deal for the country.
“It is just such a shame and a shock that she has passed.”
The huge screen, with speakers pitched at just the right volume, was like a portal, allowing people to bear witness to the spell-binding scenes unfolding in the capital.
Scenes now part of the pages of history, scenes no-one will ever forget.
The outdoor broadcast in bright, warm sunshine allowed people to grieve in a public, communal way, whether sat in a deckchair or stood around the public square near Blackett Street.
But viewing of the service was also a personal and private experience, as nobody moved, or talked, each person alone with their own thoughts of Queen Elizabeth II, the sense of occasion and historic significance, the pomp and pageantry of it all.
Figuratively, the screen gave everyone a front row seat, the red tunics of Kings Guard noticeably vivid and vibrant, the emotions of senior members of the Royal family clearly visible from close-up camera shots, heartache and loss etched on their faces.
The enormity of the occasion, the end of an era, was writ large, and people hugged and wept at the lingering shots of the casket draped in the Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown sitting atop a single purple cushion alongside a wreath, the orb and sceptre.
Impossible not to be moved, stiff upper lips quivered.
As the Reveille signified the end of a two-minute silence at the close of the service there was a Spartacus-moment among the crowd as people rose from their seats for God Save The King.
Former soldier Carl Hicks, 39, from Consett, said: “What a sight. It has been absolutely fantastic.
“There have been so many people from all different backgrounds. The funeral has been amazing and emotional.
“There must have been so much preparation that has gone into this, it has been absolutely flawless.”
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Read next:
- How memory of the Queen was honoured in moving service at Durham Cathedral
- Drama when the royal train, with the Queen onboard, was secretly parked for the night at Darlington
- 50 pictures of The Queen in the North East
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