Mayor watches Royal funeral

PEACEHAVEN Town Council member Reigna Mitchell and her husband Arthur were among the legions of people who travelled to London to witness the Queen Mother's funeral.

She told the Sussex Express her memories of the historic day.

'The birds were singing their dawn chorus, their cheerful welcome to the new day.

'We arrived in London just after 10.30am and made our way to The Mall where we found an ideal spot near Buckingham Palace.

'We had a wait of two hours before the hearse came back from the Abbey and it was so cold.

'After it passed down The Mall on the way to Windsor, and the flypast of a Hurricane and Spitfire, we saw the massed pipes which sent a shiver up my spine.

'It was then on to the Abbey where the flowers from many nations were laid out on the lawns. The smell of the wreaths was wonderful and overpowering.

'Walking back up Horse Guards Parade we met an Australian soldier who stood for us to take photographs and Arthur suddenly found himself a tourist attraction when we went into a cafe in St. James's Park.

'A couple from Hong Kong saw that he had a lot of badges on his cap and wanted their picture taken with Arthur and me.

'It was little things like this that made the day. I must say there weren't many tears it was more a celebration of a wonderful old lady's life.'