Queen’s funeral: how Manchester marked the day with crowds at Cathedral & Exchange Gardens

It was a historic and poignant occasion and one many people in Manchester wanted to mark together.

Crowds gathered today at Exchange Square and Manchester Cathedral to watch Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral on large screens.

People also assembled in Cathedral Gardens to pay their respects to Britain’s longest-serving monarch and watch televised coverage of the service at Westminster Abbey.

Paul Harrison-Rooke, 62, from Hyde, watched the funeral with his wife Jane Harrison-Rooke, 59, at Manchester Cathedral.

He said he had previously been to one of the Queen’s garden parties.

He said: “You couldn’t meet a nicer person who did a lot of work for everybody of all denominations, disabilities, everything.

“She was definitely an exceptional person.”

Brendan Weatherby, 51, from Bury, and Mark Calvert, 49, from Glossop, said they wanted to watch the service together at Manchester Cathedral after serving in the Army together in the King’s Royal Hussars regiment.

Mr Weatherby said: “We served the Queen for all of our careers.

“All these people are here in the cathedral for the same reason, to show respect and to give her a good send off which is exactly what she deserves.

“We had to be here.”

Mr Calvert added: “I don’t think there will be anybody else like her.”