Home Page Haverhill News

Thousands of people from across the region joined together on Tuesday to bid a fond farewell to the Queen Mother.

Mourners flocked to the capital to line the streets for the funeral procession or to see the Queen Mother lying in state and those who remained joined the nation in a two minute silence in honour of the much-loved Royal.

Mid-Anglian towns stood still and machines came grinding to a halt as the grieving public joined together in unison to pay their respects.

Stores and businesses also marked the day by either closing altogether or by shutting for the funeral so that staff could mark-the occasion in their own way.

By dawn on Tuesday, several thousand people bad congregated in near-freezing temperatures in Parliament Square, joining the scores who had been camping in prime positions opposite the Abbey, some since the weekend.

Others went straight from witnessing the lying in state of the Queen Mother in Westminster Hall, to join those outside the nearby Abbey.

Some people were huddled in tents and wrapped in duvets to keep out the chill. All were there to witness the end of another chapter in Britain’s royal history.

For four days, the Queen Mother lay in state while an estimated 200,000 people filed past to pay their respects.

Thousands queued for hours along the banks of the Thames for the chance to spend a few minutes passing I ~lendyb~the coffin.

In a tender and touching final mark of respect the Queen Mother’s grandsons, Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Lord Linley, mounted a vigil over her coffin on the night before the funeral.

Before the funeral service Westminster Abbey’s Tenor Bell was tolled every minute for 101 minutes, echoing the Queen Mother’s grand age.

To the sound of 128 pipers, her coffin was taken to the splendour of Westminster Abbey for a ceremonial funeral service in the capital attended by more than 2,000 people.

Later, her body was interred at Windsor, in the George VI Memorial Chapel, during a private service for close family members.

As many as 35 members of the Royal Family and 25 foreign royals, as well as Prime Minister Tony Blair and overseas dignitaries including America’s first lady Laura Bush and Commonwealth leaders, attended the Abbey funeral service.

The Queen also thanked the nation for their support on the eve of the funeral in a televised speech from Windsor Castle. She said: “I thank you for the support you are giving me and my family as we come to terms with her death and the void she has left in our midst.

“Ever since my mother died a week ago I have been deeply moved by the outpouring of affection which has accompanied her death.”

Total silence descended over Haverhill town centre on Tuesday morning, as people stopped to honour the two minute silence.

Several shops were closed for two hours or the whole morning. Staff at Sainsbury’s store at Hanchett End were able to watch the funeral service on television as the doors were closed to customers from 10.30 am to 1 pm.

Some pupils at Castle Manor Upper School were able to watch the funeral service on television and others listened on the radio. The two minutes silence was observed throughout the school.

Haverhill Library remained open, but staff and customers observed the two minutes silence.

A Book of Condolence at the Library has more than 100 signatures in it and will remain open until at least the end of the week, before being sent on to Buckingham Palace.

Boots and Woolworths in the High Street were both closed for two hours and many independent stores also kept their doors shut as a mark of respect.

CAPTION: Sad farewell … The procession carrying the coffin of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, on its way to Westminster Abbey.