Queen remembered at St Albans Cathedral thanksgiving service

Hundreds attended the St Albans Cathedral service of commemoration and thanksgiving for the life of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II has been remembered at a special service of thanksgiving held at St Albans Cathedral.

Hundreds attended the service of commemoration and thanksgiving on Sunday, including civic figures and emergency services representatives.

Cathedral Dean, the Very Reverend Jo Kelly-Moore, said they "joined with the whole nation in mourning".

The Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Robert Voss, said: "Never has there been a more gracious lady."

"It has been the greatest honour of my life and I'm sure of my predecessors during her reign... to have served the greatest monarch this country has ever known," he said in his address.

"The last lines of our national anthem - long to reign over us - how true that line was to become, and indeed we thank God for saving our gracious Queen and allowing us to enjoy her as an inherent part of our lives for so long."

The service was held the evening before the Queen's state funeral

Queen Elizabeth II visited the cathedral four times during her lifetime- in 1952, 1958, 1982 - when she opened the newly-built Chapter House - and 2003.

Many queued outside St Albans Cathedral to ensure they got a seat

Referring to the words of the national anthem and the "slight amendment" that was now needed, the Lord-Lieutenant added: "Who would have believed at the beginning of 1952, that one word of our national anthem would not change for over 71 years?

"For Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was indeed gracious, as is testified by all who ever had the honour to meet her and the millions who followed her either through press and TV and more recently on social media... for never has there been a more gracious lady.

"She adhered to the high standard of moral principles, which she set herself throughout her life.

"Those principles were set around her duty and service to her people as head of state, head of nation and head of Commonwealth... never wavering in her love for, and service to, her people and the stability she brought to the nation.

"What a remarkable reign it has been for the longest-reigning British monarch and the longest-reigning female monarch anywhere in the world."

Lord-Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Robert Voss, said she was a "gracious lady"

Many floral tributes were left outside the cathedral in the Hertfordshire city

Welcoming the congregation, Dean Kelly-Moore said: "We gather from across our county from all faiths, from all communities, leaders amongst us, those who in all our communities have served our Queen.

"In this service we join with the whole nation in mourning and remembrance, we pray for the repose of the soul of Her Majesty and for the Royal Family in their loss."

In his sermon. the Right Reverend Dr Alan Smith, Lord Bishop of St Albans, said "we have lost the mother of our nation and we mourn".

"In the midst of an ever-changing world, she has remained constant and steadfast," he said.

"Here is a woman who made a solemn declaration and stuck to it, unwavering.

"In our sadness this evening, we commit Her Majesty into the hands of Almighty God with great thanksgiving, we celebrate her life, and in faith we rejoice that she has now returned home.

"May she rest in peace and rise in glory."

The diocese of St Albans covers Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and also includes Barnet in Greater London

The cathedral will screen the Queen's state funeral on large TV screens in the nave, and has said those in attendance can join in with the hymns of the service at Westminster Abbey in London.

The cathedral also has a book of condolence for the Queen

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