Meet the children who watched the Queen's funeral

The funeral of Queen Elizabeth II was an important and historic day for the UK.

Schools and shops were closed across the country and millions of people all around the world watched it on TV.

Other royals, world leaders, presidents, prime ministers and emperors came to pay their respects.

Thousands of people also went to London to see things happen with their own eyes.

Among them were lots of children, who we caught up with throughout the day.

Sophia and Ranuli

Sophia (left) and Ranuli (right) went into London to watch the Queen's funeral

Due to the funeral, Sophia and Ranuli were off school today. They came into London to watch it from St James' Park.

"The Queen was a big inspiration for me and for my family too." said Sophia.

"I'll never forget how inspiring the Queen was and how hard it must have been for Charles this week."

"The Queen represents so much for all of us," said Ranuli. "She's both a symbol of stability but also of change as well because so much has happened during her reign.

"It's kind of weird to imagine a world where she doesn't exist. I came here to celebrate the fact that she lived through so much."

Maria

Maria spoke to Shanequa in a London Park

Maria travelled from Darlington to be at the funeral. She brought a book about Paddington Bear and some marmalade to leave at the tribute garden.

The message inside was: "To Queen Elizabeth, we've left you two jars of marmalade for you and Prince Phillip to have together in Heaven.

"We hope you enjoy your sandwiches, Ma'am. Thank you for everything."

Jack

Jack travelled to London to be part of the occasion

Jack came to London from Cumbria and said: "The reason why I think it was so important coming here was she was a great monarch.

"Her legacy was brilliant and I think it was very good to celebrate it here today."

Alicia and Elizabeth

Alicia and Elizabeth brought some art with them

Alicia is 10 and Elizabeth is 7 years old.

Elizabeth said: "My mum named me after the Queen and my sister met her when she was a baby.

"It was so important for us to be here today and I felt quite said when I saw the coffin go past us in front of Buckingham Palace."

Nehansa said it was important to her to be there

Newsround met Nehansa near to the Pall Mall which leads to Buckingham Palace.

"Obviously the Queen is such an important part of the UK," she said.

"When someone thinks of the UK they probably think of the Queen and so visiting this event to pay respects to the Queen was a very important event to me and the rest of the country."

Charlotte, Darcey and Jude

Charlotte (left), Darcey, (middle), and Jude (right)

Darcey and Jude, both 9, and Charlotte aged 5, were waiting a long time for the Queen's funeral to start.

"We've got plenty of snacks and somewhere to sit while we wait for the funeral to begin.

"We keep seeing cars drive by and it's really important to be here," they said.

Joseph

Joseph wanted to see the Queen's procession

7-year-old Joseph waited patiently to get a glimpse of the Queen.

"I feel like I'm representing the Queen today. It's really busy here and there are loads of people all around us."

Saskia

Saskia, 10, had a balloon of the Queen while she waited at Buckingham Palace

Saskia is 10 years old and from Warwickshire. She spoke to Ricky outside Buckingham Palace.

"I really loved the Queen because she was our longest reigning monarch. I'm happy to have the day off school to take part in history."

Saskia was one of thousands of people lining the streets of the capital city to pay their respects.

Dollie and Herbie

Dollie and Herbie travelled from Bolton to Buckingham Palace

Dollie and Herbie's mum brought them to London to see the Queen's funeral.

Herbie spoke about the Queen and said: "She did fantastic for the country, in leading us."

The siblings were at Buckingham Palace on the day of the funeral and saw the new king, King Charles III, and Prince William.

Dravid

Dravid from Luton said we need to celebrate the Queen's life

Dravid from Luton came with his mum to see the Queen's funeral.

Speaking to Ricky outside Buckingham Palace, he said it was really important to be there "because the Queen served our country and we need to celebrate her life."

Dravid had even brought some flowers to leave for the Queen.