King Charles III left a handwritten note on top of his late mother’s coffin on the day of the Queen’s funeral.

The royal family grieved in public as the nation bid farewell to its Queen and watched as the late monarch left the capital for the last time.

King Charles III was left close to tears during a state funeral service at Westminster Abbey, where the Archbishop of Canterbury described the Queen as having touched “a multitude of lives” and having been a “joyful” figure for many.

The Queen was head of state but also a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and in a personal touch, the wreath adorning her coffin had a handwritten note from the King.

The card in the flowers on top of the coffin read: "In loving and devoted memory. Charles R."

Tens of thousands of mourners lined the ceremonial procession route from the Abbey to Wellington Arch, where the Queen’s coffin left for her Berkshire home of Windsor Castle and a committal service.

Behind her coffin were Charles and his siblings – the Princess Royal, Duke of York and Earl of Wessex – who were followed by the monarch’s three grandsons, Peter Phillips, Duke of Sussex and Prince of Wales.

The royal women travelled behind in state limousines with the Princess of Wales and her children George and Charlotte with the Queen Consort and the Duchess of Sussex travelling with the Countess of Wessex.