Queen's funeral: The Lord Mayor of Westminster's first ever funeral

Councillor Hamza Taouzzale took his mother to the service at Westminster Abbey

The Queen's state funeral was for many the first time they had seen an event of that magnitude, but for the youngest ever Lord Mayor of Westminster, it represented a different first - the first time he had ever attended a funeral.

"I'm lucky to have never had anyone pass away," said Hamza Taouzzale, 23.

"In the abbey, seeing the coffin go through and seeing it leave, it brought up so many emotions as it makes you look at the world differently."

The councillor was invited to the funeral in his role as Lord Mayor of Westminster, a position which links the monarchy with the local authority - in this case, Westminster City Council.

• Young lord mayor proud to be part of history

• Young lord mayor's nerves over proclamation event

It is a prestigious position which saw him arrive at the abbey after world leaders including presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron. Only UK prime ministers - former and current - and the Royal Family arrived after him.

Mr Taouzzale was one of the few guests able to arrive at the funeral by car

Upon arriving at the abbey, he was greeted by the Archbishop of Canterbury

His arrival time was precisely 10:12 BST.

"I was trying to take it all in as I knew how big the occasion was," he said.

"I knew this was something that was going to go down in history, something most of us haven't seen before and will not see again. So to be a part of that… yeah, I was trying to take it all in. I was a little bit nervous."

One person who was not nervous was his mother, who he took to the funeral as his guest.

She suggested he slowed down as they were walking along the aisle to their seats, so they could take in the moment.

"As I was walking past I could see heads of states from across the world, foreign diplomats, the first minister of Scotland among other people.

"These are normally people you only see on TV so to see them live was strange."

Shortly after the Queen passed away, Mr Taouzzale read out King Charles III's proclamation

He added: "When you see former prime ministers, Blair or Brown or Major, these are people I've only ever read about in books. I'm not that old so they're not in my living memory, they're not who I'm familiar with.

"And then to see them in person... they do exist outside of the textbooks I was studying, so it's an honour."

Mr Taouzzale and his mother were sat next to the choir, a prime position where they could watch all of the service as well as see the King and members of the Royal Family.

It was an experience he wanted to make sure he would remember.

"I took off my glasses at one point because I thought to myself that I wanted to see it myself and not with any support, not through any lenses," he said.

"The most touching moment was towards the end with the Queen's piper and that's the part that hit me the most because we were all standing, we'd just sung the national anthem and it was almost the last farewell, a send-off to the Queen."

The lord mayor met heads of states and dignitaries following the funeral

Afterwards he headed to a reception where some of the heads of state and ambassadors were present.

While there he chatted with the first minister of Gibraltar, Fabian Picardo; the president of the Maldives, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih; the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan; and the ambassadors for Peru and Ecuador.

But it was Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco who left Mr Taouzzale and his mother in awe.

"My family is from Morocco so I was quite keen to say 'hi' just as a courtesy, and he came out and me and my mum did the same thing, we sort of froze a little.

"We thought 'OK, this is not a politician, this is not a prime minister, this is not a president, this is royalty' and it's like what do you say, how do you act?

"It was a very weird awkward conversation and he's trying to engage and we were just saying yes to everything," the lord mayor said.

Mr Taouzzale has met King Charles twice, once during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations...

And at an event ahead of the Notting Hill Carnival

His friends had the same stunned reaction when he told them he was going to the funeral.

"Initially they said 'so where are you going to watch it?'. And I said 'no, I'm going to the abbey'. They said 'no', I said 'yeah I am', they said 'no', I said 'I actually am', so it did take a little convincing.

"But I think now if they ever see me on the TV or on a screen somewhere they think 'that's Hamza, he's doing us proud representing us and the community he comes from'.

"Where I live is a tight-knit community so when I go back home everyone says 'well done Hamza' as it means something, a kid coming from their area to actually now being on the front line with royalty, ministers and prime ministers."

Westminster is an area where the Queen, seen here with her family at Clarence House, was born and where she spent much of her life

He added: "Who would have thought three, four months ago when I was just around town doing odd jobs trying to get by as a councillor and then suddenly I became lord mayor and now I'm involved with all of this.

"I'm happy I've been able to have taken part in things that people would only dream about. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

For now, his work will see him go back to the area he loves best, his local community, where he will carry on visiting youth clubs, schools and care homes.

But he does also have November to look forward to when he heads to Oslo in Norway to fulfil another tradition, one that is unique to Westminster - the selection of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree.

This was history - solemn, spectacular and intense

Nation pays final farewell to Queen Elizabeth II

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