Grieving loved one in public is not easy, Queen told Sentamu

Grieving someone you love deeply is not easy to do in public, the Queen once said, the former Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu has revealed.

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Sentamu recalled the words in a "most wonderful letter" the Queen wrote to him after Prince Philip died last year.

He added his thoughts were with King Charles and the Royal Family who "are grieving publicly".

Dr Sentamu also said the Queen did not want a "long, boring" funeral service.

Appearing on the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, he told of how he has been involved in preparing for the service for the past 17 years.

• Queen's funeral guests: Who will - and who won't - attend

• Why the state funeral will be an event beyond compare

The Queen's funeral is taking place at Westminster Abbey at 11:00 BST on Monday.

Some 500 leaders and dignitaries from the UK and around the world will be among the thousands of guests expected to attend the ceremony.

"You're not going to find boredom, but you're going to be lifted to glory as you hear the service", he said.

Dr Sentamu said mourners can expect the funeral to be a traditional service.

"The hearts and people's cockles will be warmed, but at the same time, there will be a moment of saying this is a funeral service," he said.

Dr Sentamu spoke of how the Queen comforted him through prayer when he went to ask for permission to step down as Archbishop of York in 2018.

He said: "I went with a huge burden of matters that maybe one day will be revealed.

"I knelt down, and I said 'Your Majesty, please pray for me.' So I put my hands together and she put hers outside mine, and we were silent for three minutes. At the end she said 'Amen'.

"When I got up, the burden had lifted."

Recalling the letter the Queen had written to him after Prince Philip's died, Dr Sentamu said she was "thanking me for the flowers, the prayers and then ended by saying 'when you are grieving someone you deeply love, it isn't easy when you have to do it in public'".

Watch: Queen Elizabeth II's lying-in-state

What time is the Queen's funeral? And other questions

What next? A day-by-day guide from now to the funeral

Queen's funeral plans: What will happen on the day