THE Royal Family sat together in sorrow at Westminster Abbey as the world bade farewell to the Queen Mother.

The Prince of Wales's grief was etched on his face as he sat staring at his grandmother's coffin a few feet in front.

Flanked by his sons, William and Harry, Charles's sorrowful gaze was broken only occasionally when he allowed his eyes to shut as if in deep reflection, or possibly to fight back tears, though none came.

He closed his eyelids as the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey, giving the sermon, gave thanks for the Queen Mother's life.

Like at any family funeral, the principal mourners were seated together at the front with Charles, William and Harry sharing the front row with the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen, who wore a black feather in her hat and a pearl necklace.

In the rows behind sat the Earl and Countess of Wessex, the Duke of York and the Princess Royal.

But unlike any family funeral, millions of people worldwide were watching as the Royals sat in silent reflection of the late matriarch.

A private family, there were few outward signs of emotion, although the Duke of Edinburgh, like his son, seemed to find it hard to stop blinking. More than 2,300 mourners filled the abbey in a sea of black ahead of the Royal Family's arrival.

The first hush of voices came with an announcement over the loudspeaker for mourners to ensure their mobile phones and pagers were switched off.

At 11.21am, as the Queen took her place, a pause in the Abbey's organ music left a complete silence in the chamber.

A distant thump of drumbeat and the sound of bagpipes drifting through the stone walls signalled the imminent arrival of the coffin.

Video-screens relayed a silent movie of the cortege pulling up outside, the bearer-party's feet falling noiselessly on to the ground.

At 11.30am sharp, Big Ben chimed in the background and the pallbearers began their slow march with the Queen Mother's coffin through the Great West Door.

Behind, walking in unison, came members of the Royal Family, starting with the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. Behind them came the Princess Royal and Earl of Wessex.

William and Harry followed in the centre, concentration etched on their faces, alongside Peter Phillips and Lord Linley.

With the coffin in place at the front of the Abbey, the family took their seats.

Throughout the service there was no sense of an emotionally-charged atmosphere, as was said of Diana's funeral, but of years of precision planning ticking over like clockwork.

Members of the congregation stood, sat, sang and listened in respectful harmony.

The Queen, reading from her copy of the service, like everyone else, kept her grief hidden.

Towards the end of the service, the family stood with a rigid sense of duty on their faces as the Last Post pierced a silent Abbey.

During God Save The Queen, sung by all but the Monarch, Charles again looked lost in thought, staring at the coffin ahead, and lagging behind a little as he sang the final verse.

It was then time for him to accompany his beloved grandmother on the journey to her final resting place, at St George's Chapel in Windsor.

The Prince, accompanied only by his equerry, Lieutenant-Commander William Entwisle, drove in a Royal-Rolls behind the hearse as it began its slow, sorrowful drive through London.