Queen's funeral: Tyneside women say service will stay with them for life

Lynn McManus said the service was "an emotional celebration of life."

Two women who were invited to attend the Queen's funeral have both said being there was a "privilege".

Charity founder Lynn McManus from North Shields was recognised in the Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honours while Lucy Winskell was invited in her role as Tyne & Wear's Lord-Lieutenant.

They were among about 2,000 guests inside Westminster Abbey.

Mrs McManus said: "I kept thinking - am I really here? People like me don't get invited to such an amazing ceremony."

About 2,000 guests attended the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

"There was a moment when the music inside the abbey stopped and all you could hear in the background was the pipers and the sound of marching feet and a drumbeat, and we knew it was getting closer and closer," she said.

"It was surreal, I kept thinking: "Am I really here?" Even the woman sitting next to me, we both kept thinking 'wow, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event that we'll never see again'."

Mrs McManus became an MBE for founding Pathways 4 All and the Tim Lamb Children's Centre at the Rising Sun Country Park, in Benton, which helps almost 2,000 families.

Her feelings were echoed by Lord-Lieutenant Lucy Winskell who said it would be "etched in her memory forever".

Ms Winskell said she felt emotional seeing the grief on the faces of the Royal Family

Ms Winskell described sitting in a pew about 2ft (0.6m) away from the Royal Family when they walked up the aisle behind the Queen's coffin.

She said: "I could see the grief etched in the King's face and when I saw Prince George and Princess Charlotte, such tiny children, it really brought a lump to my throat, and there was so much dignity there."

Lord-Lieutenant Lucy Winskell said the service would be "etched in my memory forever"

Ms Winskell said she found a few other people from the north-east of England in the capital.

"I actually chose the queue to get through security and met a Geordie police officer, then as I went through Queen Victoria Garden where we were congregating, I found a young lady from St John's Ambulance who was going to be part of the procession, who I had earlier met in Saltwell Park in Gateshead earlier in the year, so I felt there were a few of us from Tyne and Wear," she said.