In a moment of symbolic unity, Prince William and Prince Harry walked side by side behind the Queen’s coffin as it left Buckingham Palace.
Along with King Charles and other members of the Royal Family, they processed to Westminster Hall where the Queen will lie in state.
The sight of the brothers together, walking behind the coffin, will evoke poignant memories of their mother Diana’s funeral 25 years ago.
Crowds applauded the solemn procession.
The Queen’s coffin, carried on a gun carriage, passed below the Buckingham Palace balcony where only three months ago she appeared for the final moments of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Bandsmen played sombre music to accompany this careful choreography of mourning, Beethoven and Mendelssohn alongside the drumbeat of marching feet – exactly 75 steps per minute – and the sound of horses’ hooves in the autumn sunshine.
The same gun carriage had carried the coffins of the Queen’s father and mother – and as it went past there were ripples of applause and some tears from people crowding along the route.
Walking on foot behind the coffin were the Queen’s four children, King Charles, Princess Anne and Prince Edward, in military uniform, with Prince Andrew, no longer a working royal, in a morning suit and wearing medals.
And behind them were William, now the Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, also as a non-working royal not wearing military uniform.
This time the brothers were side by side, unlike Prince Philip’s funeral last year when they had someone walking between them, in what was seen at the time as a sign of separation.
The brothers appearing together sends a strong visual message of family unity, after so much speculation about tensions and disagreements between them.
Their wives, Catherine and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex and Camilla, the Queen Consort, travelled in cars behind.
William, Harry, Catherine and Meghan had appeared together at the weekend to greet well-wishers in Windsor, tuning into a public mood wanting reconciliation, and bringing back memories of the “fab four” of young royals.
A thundercloud of media interest has hung over claims of a strained brotherly relationship, now conducted from different sides of the Atlantic.
Football Mourns the Loss of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
But it’s not clear what the feelings might really be for a family whose private grief comes with so much public scrutiny.
Catherine is now the new Princess of Wales and the images of the coffin procession will bring back thoughts of another September funeral, when Diana in 1997 was buried from Westminster Abbey.
William and Harry, as young schoolboys, walked in that funeral procession, with their father King Charles and grandfather Prince Philip. In step at a time when their worlds had been turned upside down.
Today’s procession was another national moment. Crowds held up mobile phones to capture a glimpse of history taking place before them. Big Ben rang out around the streets, tolling each minute. Queen Elizabeth had left Buckingham Palace for the very final time.
Her connections with the palace went back across the eras. She’d been Christened there 96 years ago and there were guests in that family photo who had been alive at the same time as the Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo.
The coffin has been covered with the emblems of the monarchy, the Royal Standard and the Imperial State Crown. But there are also personal connections in the flowers in the wreath. Along with white roses and white dahlias there was pine from Balmoral and lavender and rosemary, a symbol of remembrance, from the gardens at Windsor.
