Queen's Funeral: Natalie Queiroz 'very humbled' to attend

Natalie Queiroz, who survived being stabbed 24 times while heavily pregnant, was recognised in the Queen's last birthday honours list

A campaigner has described the moment her legs turned wobbly as she curtsied at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Natalie Queiroz was invited to attend the service at Westminster Abbey on Monday and described a sense of "real camaraderie" between guests.

She almost died when she was stabbed 24 times while heavily pregnant in Birmingham in 2016 and was recognised in the Queen's last birthday honours list in June for her campaign work.

"My heart was racing," she said.

"I was thinking, this is it, this is my final farewell to our wonderful Her Majesty the Queen," Ms Queiroz said as she described the moment she heard the procession of the coffin making its way into the Abbey.

When it came past her seat, "I bowed my head and did a little curtsy, but my legs wouldn't move properly so my curtsy was some weird little bob thing," she added.

Ms Querioz said she could see the emotion on the faces of the coffin bearers

Waking up at 04:30 BST, Ms Queiroz said how she got to London early and queued with the other guests invited to the service.

"I queued right at the front and hence why I managed to nab a front seat, which was quite incredible," she said.

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Ms Queiroz described the nervous atmosphere among guests, saying: "The occasion was getting to everybody, we all knew this was such a massive thing."

Ms Queiroz said she felt very humbled to have been part of the funeral

The anti-knife crime campaigner said that as soon as the heads of state started walking into the Abbey, "the whole place went silent".

Kings and queens, presidents, prime ministers, celebrities and friends from across the globe were among the 2,000 guests at the service at Westminster Abbey.

"When the coffin came past, seeing her artefacts on the top, like the crown, that really hit quite hard," Ms Queiroz said.

"I genuinely feel very humbled to have been part of it."

The Queen was laid to rest on Monday night with the Duke of Edinburgh at a private family service inside St George's Chapel.