'Roses for the queen. Touched by David Beckham in the queue'

The coffin of Queen Elizabeth II is loaded on to a gun carriage pulled by Royal Navy soldiers to go. Picture: Nariman El-Mofty/PA Wire

"Roses. Roses for the queen. Touched by David Beckham in the queue."

These remarks from a street seller were a rare moment of levity on the most sombre of days in central London as the pageantry and solemnity that accompanied the death of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II reached its zenith for her state funeral on Monday.