BRITAIN: Queen Elizabeth has asked that sadness at her mother's funeral today should "blend with a wider sense of thanksgiving" for her life and for the times in which she lived.
She was speaking in a televised broadcast to the British people thanking them for their "overwhelming" tribute to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.
Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prince Edward and Viscount Linley staged their personal vigil at the four corners of the catafalque on the last evening of the lying-in-state at Westminster Hall.
Princess Anne, Prince William and Prince Harry were present - as was Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles, at the invitation of Prince Charles - as the queen mother's grandsons paid their tribute in echo of that 66 years before by the grandsons of the late King George V.
Earlier, Princess Anne had led a royal walkabout among those queuing in bright spring sunshine to pay their respects.
And as the queen thanked her people "for so many acts of kindness and respect" in the days following her mother's death, tens of thousands were still converging on Westminster Hall in a determined bid to view the queen mother's lying-in-state before its final closure at 6 a.m. this morning - barely five hours before the pipes and drums will play their lament on her final short journey to the great west door of Westminster Abbey.
With 160,000 people so far counted through the portals of Westminster Hall, those facing waits of up to six hours were still queuing across Lambeth Bridge and back along the South Side of the Thames beyond the London Eye toward Waterloo.
Others, meanwhile, were again camping out overnight at key vantage points along the short route from the Palace of Westminster to Westminster Abbey in anticipation of this morning's funeral.
With thousands of shops, stores and supermarkets remaining closed until 1 p.m., vast crowds are expected to line the streets of central London for what was originally thought might be a largely televisual event.
The service at the abbey will be relayed by speakers along the Mall to Buckingham Palace, along which the funeral cortege will carry the queen mother toward her final resting place, alongside her husband, the late King George VI, in the royal vault at Windsor Castle.
Where she had last addressed her people in response to a mood of public anger following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Queen Elizabeth decided to make last night's broadcast after a massive public outpouring of affection for her late mother.
While she and her family always knew what the queen mother had meant to the country, she said "the extent of the tribute" huge numbers had paid had been overwhelming and the source of great comfort.
And the queen acknowledged all those who had to cope with family loss, often in tragic circumstances.
She said she could count herself "fortunate that my mother was blessed with a long and happy life" and with "an infectious zest for living."