In life, Queen Elizabeth II was a force. Despite her diminutive size, she deliberately chose bright, eye-catching outfits, worn to a staggering amount of public engagements per year, insisting that the sovereign “must be seen to be believed”.

So it was fitting that at 96, and after 70 years of devoted public service, she was carried to her final resting place under an unmissable wreath of brightly coloured flowers chosen by her son and heir, King Charles III.

The United Kingdom and indeed the world stood still as her coffin, also draped with the Royal Standard and topped with the bejewelled Imperial State Crown, made its way out of Westminster Abbey – where she was crowned in 1953 – after a moving church service that saw her beloved family rub shoulders with foreign dignitaries and royals.

The Queen’s