King Charles III has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II with a handwritten note placed on top of her coffin.

The message could be seen during this afternoon's funeral procession, after the King was left close to tears following a speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Archbishop described the Queen as having touched “a multitude of lives” and had been a “joyful” figure for many.

His Majesty's message, which was placed in a wreath on his mother's coffin, read: “In loving and devoted memory. Charles R.”

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

Her coffin was borne on a gun carriage in a spectacle not seen for many generations as hundreds of soldiers, sailors and airmen marched to solemn funeral pieces or lined the route.