Pictures of the Queen sitting alone in front of the coffin of her husband Prince Philip in St George's chapel are the enduring images from his funeral service.
COVID-19 restrictions in the UK meant no more than 30 people could attend the funeral of the Duke of Edinburgh, who died last Friday evening NZ time. He was 99 years old and a few months off turning 100.
The restrictions also meant the Queen had to wear a mask as she farewelled the man, who had been by her side for 73 years, on Saturday (UK time).
The heartbreaking images of the Queen, dressed in black and mourning, have gone around the world and the monarch has been widely praised for showing grace and dignity during one of her darkest moments.
Piers Morgan, who recently lost his job as a presenter of Good Morning Britain for comments he made about Meghan Markle tweeted: "Has there ever been a more heart-breaking picture of The Queen?"
British MP Tom Hunt said in a tweet: "I imagine the whole country has never been more with the Queen, by her side and never more proud than we were today to call her our Queen."
While the Queen was widely praised the restrictions themselves came in for criticism, with many questioning why she had to sit alone. The Queen has been vaccinated twice and many thought it was unnecessary.
Kiwi journalist Dan Wooten, in a column for the Daily Mail tweeted: "Putting the Queen or any grieving widow through the cold hell of a Covid funeral shows a chilling lack of humanity that disgraces our nation."
