RAF veterans Mark Dobie and his fiancée Louise were determined to be there for the Queen's state funeral, not just to see history, but to say farewell to their former boss.

Here camera club member Mark tells us what they experienced on September 19...

"We all swore an oath to protect and serve our monarch and this country so I felt I wanted to be there on her final journey.

Lou and I arrived at Green Park near Buckingham Palace around 8:20am. Already there were hundreds if not thousands of people making there way to the various entrances for each viewing areas. I wanted to be right at the end nearest The Duke of York column, facing the turning for Horse Guards Road as I knew the parade would be coming from that direction. Already the number of people was six to eight deep. I cursed myself for not thinking ahead and bringing a lightweight stepladder as taking pictures would be difficult. Any I took, would probably end with lots of heads and shoulders or with people’s arms in the air holding their phones and cameras. Luckily I’m over 6ft tall so generally I could see a fair bit.

The whole organisation of crowd control and facilities was done brilliantly. Fencing was up all over central London and it was monitored by many, many security firms who would guide you. Everybody was in good spirits and making new friends, just like you heard about those waiting in the queue for viewing the Queen's lying in state. I ended up making a new friend who also is a photographer. He was well prepared as he had three SLR cameras and a good stepladder to stand well above the crowd. I found out that he does professional photography for concert venues and bands - O2, Wembley, Aerosmith, Paloma Faith etc. He also had an additional small foldable step up which he offered to me to use.

When the service started at Westminster Abbey it was broadcast over the speakers in the area and it was amazing as people just stopped talking and there was peace. Everyone went along with and spoke the Lords Prayer as it was broadcast, along with the National anthem. When the service finished there was a brief moment where everyone chatted amongst themselves but when the bands from the parade began to be heard in the distance the conversations began to soften again.

As the multitudes of troops from around the Commonwealth came into view, along with the bands, the crowd just seemed to burst with pride. The atmosphere was quite intense and emotional as we all knew what was to come.

When it finally came to that moment when her Majesty’s coffin came to pass by on the gun carriage the crowd fell totally silent again taking in that moment. It really did bring it home to me then that it was indeed the end of an era. I took photos while it passed by and realised that that was the closest I’ve ever been to the crown and the very last time that I would be present in front of the Queen. The last time I had done so was on parade in front of the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 1990 for the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Once the coffin had passed, followed by King Charles and has siblings we all started to clap.

Our way I suppose of thanking her Majesty in some small way for her solid service and also to all those that had been involved in such a huge event. I will never forget that day, it was an emotional roller coaster with highs, lows and immeasurable pride in our armed forces and the monarchy. Louise and I left London later that day having experienced something very special. We were so pleased to have made the effort to go, and thank God we did, as we would have both regretted it for the rest of our lives if we hadn’t."