Nelson Mandela - Celebrating his life (Pictures)

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Ceremonial: The fly-past was accompanied by a 21-gun salute and a solitary trumpeter played the Last Post while his body was lowered into the ground

Burial: The military carry Mandela's body along the pathway to the area where South Africa's beloved son's burial site in Qunu

Procession: After the funeral South Africa's military took over and followed Mandela's coffin up the hill to his family plot where he was buried

Funeral procession: After the four hour memorial service Mandela's body on a gun carriage led by troops and followed by his family in cars

Arm in arm: Mandela's second wife Winnie Madikizela Mandela (far right) and the statesman's widow Graca Machel (centre) walk together as he is about to be buried

 

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Civil rights campaigner: American Jesse Jackson, a close friend of Mandela's meets Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, right, and Lindiwe Sisulu, left, at the burial

Religious movement: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, centre, is surrounded by clergymen at his Christian burial after his state funeral was dominated by political eulogies

Representing the UK: Prince Charles stands alongside Judith Macgregor, British High Commissioner in South Africa as they watch Mandela finally laid to rest

Gathered to remember Madiba: South Africa's president Jacob Zuma (2nd left), Mandela's ex-wife Winnie Mandela (left), and the widow of Mandela, Graca Machel (3rd left), sit by his coffin

Embrace: Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who initially claimed he had not been invited to the funeral, hugs former president Thabo Mbeki

Respect: Candles are lit under a portrait of Nelson Mandela before his funeral. One for every year of his life

 

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Dignitaries: Prince Charles, right, arrives for the state funeral on Sunday and is greeted by a fellow mourner who welcomed him to the Quno service

Representing Britain: The Queen sent the Prince of Wales, pictured here speaking to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a politician and former wife of Jacob Zuma

Mourners: US talk show host Oprah Winfrey, centre, her husband Stedman Graham, left, and English businessman Richard Branson, right, watching the state funeral service

Star: British actor Idris Elba, who played Mandela in Long Walk To Freedom, also attended the state funeral - the first in South Africa's democratic history

Eulogy: South African President Jacob Zuma told the assembled mourners that 'Madiba' was 'a fountain of wisdom, a pillar of strength and a beacon of hope' for those fighting oppression in his country and around the world

 

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Loss of an icon: A mourner weeps as he watches the funeral service for former South African President Nelson Mandela on a large screen television in Cape Town

Hard to take: Mourners console each other as they watch a broadcast of the state funeral of former South African President Nelson Mandela, at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg

Hero: An ANC member sobs in Johannesburg yesterday morning as the world said its final goodbye to 'Madiba' on the tenth day of mourning in South Africa

Celebration of life: Men in tribal Zulu warrior dress perform ritual dances on the area overlooking the burial ceremony

Heroic: Warriors pay a personal tribute to the Nobel Peace Prize winner and revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa who died on December 5 at the age of 95

 

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Final journey: The coffin carrying former South African President Nelson Mandela is escorted into his state funeral service in Qunu yesterday morning

Eulogy: Mandela's granddaughter Nand takes to the podium to pay her tributes to the leader

Paying their final respects: Nelson Mandela's grandsons Ndaba (left) and Mandla Mandela (centre) look at the coffin as they attend the funeral ceremony of the South African former president

Procession: Military officers accompany the coffin into the funeral as others stand to attention

Wives: Grace Machel, left, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, right, have led South Africa in mourning for the man they were both married to

 

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Speech: Joyce Banda, the president of Malawi, was one of many African leaders to pay tribute to Mandela at the service

Stage: The speakers delivered their addresses in front of 95 candles, representing every year of Mandela's life

 

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Moved: Mandela's daughter Makaziwe, centre, sits in front of her father's coffin during the ceremony

Tears: The former president's daughter Zindzi comforts another mourner

Packing out the building: Soldiers moved in to fill some of the empty chairs during the funeral service, despite many people complaining about being left off the invite list

Tradition: Mandela's casket, covered in the nation's flag, was placed on a cattle skin as the service combined elements of traditional and state funerals

Display: The coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela is seen draped in a South African national flag during his funeral in his ancestral village of Qunu

Tribute: A military officer places the framed flag of South Africa on top of Mandela's coffin at the start of his funeral service yesterday morning

 

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Sombre: South Africa's current president Jacob Zuma sitting between Winnie Mandela and Graca Machel - who were seen holding hands as they supported each other on this difficult day

State funeral: Mandela's coffin is carried into the white tent for the service by senior military figures and an Army chaplain

Support: African National Congress supporters chant before the start of the funeral, which began with the national anthem of Mandela's beloved country

Dignitaries: Anti-apartheid activist and friend Ahmed Kathrada, right, with former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki speak before the service

United in grief: Mandela's widow Graca Machel, above, and his former wife Winnie, below, arrived holding hands and sat together for the service that lasted around four hours

Traditional: Mandla Mandela right, grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela, during his grandfather's funeral wearing a tribal head piece

 

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Honour and respect: A gun salute is fired as the funeral procession nears the Mandela family compound at the start of yesterday

Song of freedom: This Zulu man stood with others in Qunu singing traditional songs celebrating Mandela's life and how he overcame his struggles

Final goodbye: The flag-draped casket of South Africa's first black president arrives in Mandela's village at just after dawn yesterday

 

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Coming home: A parade of servicemen lead the casket to the funeral through the Eastern cape hills 'Tata' - as he was known - loved all his life

Home at last: Military officers and Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, rear, accompany the casket of the former South African President as it arrives in Qunu

Tradition: Mandela's grandson Mandla Mandela, right, watches as local chiefs escort the lion skin draped casket of former South African President as it arrives at the Mandela residence in Qunu

Winnie Mandela (left), ex-wife of former South African President, and Graca Macel, widow of Mandela, wipe away tears as his flag-draped coffin arrives at the Mthata airport

 

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A last look at the father of the nation: Locals take photos as Mandela's hearse nears Qunu, a small hamlet in South Africa's Eastern Cape province where he grew up

A military guard of honour stands to attention at the Mandela family's homestead in Qunu. Mandela, the revered icon of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa and one of the towering political figures of the 20th century, died in Johannesburg on December 5 at age 95

Hero: A woman raises her fist in salute as she watches the hearse carrying her country's first black president drive by on the way to his final resting place

Loved by the people: The motorcade transporting Mandela's body passes through crowds of mourners gathered in the town of Mthatha on its way to Qunu

Paying respects: Thousands of mourners line the streets of Umthatha as the enormous convoy of police, military and other vehicles sweeps through their town

Full military honours: Fighter jets escort the military plane carrying the coffin of former South African President Nelson Mandela as it is flown to Mandela's home in the village of Qunu, Eastern Cape

 

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Dignitaries: Malawi's president Joyce Banda, Prince Albert of Monaco and Zambia's first president Kenneth Kaunda are pictured talking in the purpose-built dome in Qunu

Controversial: Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams was invited to join a guard of honour for Mandela

Front row: Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, left, in front of Mandela's coffin with first lady Nompumelelo Ntuli, Graca Machel and Jacob Zuma

Watching: Former French prime ministers Alain Juppé and Lionel Jospin in the congregation

 

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'Madiba, we are now burying you': Nelson Mandela is laid to rest in his childhood home after four hour service and full tribal burial rites including guests drinking blood of slaughtered ox

Goodbye to an icon: Nelson Mandela's coffin is slowly lowered into the ground in the hills close to where he grew up at the small, private burial today in Qunu as military salute and mourners watch the poignant moment

Poignant: Nelson Mandela's coffin was carried to his grave and then the flag of the country he loved so ardently was removed and handed to his widow Graca Machel

 

[PrincessAleezay]

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