Diana's brother, two sons and former husband watch the hearse arrive

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Britain and the world have said farewell to Diana, Princess of Wales, at the end of an unprecedented week of mourning.

A four mile procession brought her coffin to Westminster Abbey, where politicians and celebrities joined the Royal Family in a subdued congregation.

Over a million people lined the route of the funeral cortege to the abbey and along her final journey to the Spencer family home in Northamptonshire.

The day began at 0908 BST, when the coffin left Kensington Palace on a gun carriage.

Some of the crowd wept, some applauded quietly, but most watched in silence.

On top of the coffin was a poignant reminder that this woman loved by millions was also a mother - a card to "Mummy" from one of her sons.

The two princes, William and Harry, joined their father, grandfather and the princess' brother walking behind the coffin.

Other members of the Royal Family watched the funeral cortege pass from the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The union jack on top of the palace was lowered to half mast for the first time ever.

Both Diana's sisters read tributes to her at the funeral service and Elton John played his re-worked version of Candle in the Wind.

Her brother, Lord Spencer, made a funeral address in which he described as Diana the "very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty".

He used the speech to blame the media for her death, calling her the "most hunted person of the modern age".

The grieving earl also pledged to protect William and Harry and prevent them suffering a similar fate. The sometimes controversial oration was greeted with spontaneous applause.

A very public day of mourning ended with a private ceremony when Diana was finally buried on an island in the heart of her family estate at Althorp.

The kidnappers blew up the helicopter with the hostages inside

A policeman also died in the shooting at the Furstenfeldbruck military airbase, along with four of the guerrillas from the Palestinian group Black September.

Witnesses at the airport said the shooting began when police snipers opened fire on the extremists.

A spokesman for the Olympic Games said the kidnappers had blown up a helicopter with the hostages inside and then opened fire on the wreckage with automatic weapons.

It is believed that the remaining four militants have been captured by West German police.

The guerrillas had previously threatened to kill all the hostages if 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel were not released.

News of the tragedy was confirmed at 0310 BST, contradicting an earlier announcement by a Munich police officer that all the hostages had been released and four of the kidnappers captured.

The bloody end to the kidnapping followed a day of tense negotiations with the Palestinians.

They had occupied the Israelis' quarters at 0600 BST yesterday, killing two athletes and taking nine hostages.

The West German government had offered to pay any price for the release of the athletes, but was told by the guerrillas' chief he cared for "neither money nor lives".

German authorities agreed to demands by the Palestinians to supply them with an aeroplane, and at 2200 BST provided three helicopters to take them to the airport.

The gun battle started almost immediately after the helicopters landed at the airport.

Bavarian Minister of the Interior Bruno Merk confirmed Munich's police chief had given the order to open fire.

It is not clear whether the Olympic Games will continue, but the Israeli and Egyptian teams have already withdrawn.

congregation: a group of people who collect together（集會）

cortege: a funeral procession（行列）

guerrillas: a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment（游擊隊(duì)）