In death, as in life, Aretha Franklin was the greatest of all divas.
For her final appearance the Queen of Soul – known simply as "The Queen" in her home city of Detroit – was dressed in a sparkling, full-length gold gown with sequined heels. She lay regally in a $40,000 casket plated with 24-karat gold, and lined with champagne velvet.
Smokey Robinson, her childhood friend, sang from the pulpit. Ariana Grande belted out Franklin’s (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. Gospel choirs and opera singers raised the roof with vocal pyrotechnics.
Outside the Greater Grace temple megachurch more than 100 pink Cadillacs paraded down the street in a tribute to her 1980s hit Freeway of Love.
Linda Swanson, the funeral director, and a friend of the singer, said: "Aretha was a diva extraordinaire in life. And she will be in the afterlife."
In London the Welsh Guards Band played a cover of "Respect," her signature song, during the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace. The British Army called Franklin was a "musical icon and inspiration".
"Now, I want you all to correct President Trump, to tell him what it (Respect) means," Rev Al Sharpton said from the pulpit, to cheers. "Trump said she used to work for him. No, she used to perform for you. She worked for us. Aretha never took orders from nobody but God. Aretha, it’s time to collect your crown."
Rev Sharpton then read out a letter from Barack and Michelle Obama.
The Obamas did not mention Mr Trump. Instead, they praised Franklin for representing the "very best of the American story" and "embodying forgiveness and reconciliation".
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"She lifted up the downtrodden and vulnerable, and everyone who may have just needed a little love," they wrote. "We’ll be saying a little prayer for you."
Former president Bill Clinton, who attended the funeral, said: "I just loved her. I started off as a groupie. She had the voice of a generation, maybe of the century."
Mr Clinton said when he last met Franklin she was desperately ill.
"She said ‘Look at me, I got thin again’. It took a lot of guts to say that," he said. "She was the composer of her own life song, and what a song it turned out to be."
Joking about the four different outfits Franklin had been dressed in for public viewings this week, he added: "I hope God forgives me. But I was so glad the casket was still open when I got here, because I wanted to see what my friend was wearing today…"
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Mr Clinton then used his mobile phone to play Franklin’s "Think" into the microphone at the pulpit as members of the congregation sang along.
Around 1,000 fans were allowed in for the service, some queuing through the night, dressed in their finest, and breaking into spontaneous vocal tributes.
Near the front, Sandra Mellett, had a pink fur coat hanging from the back of her wheelchair. "I’m 71-years-old and I cried like a newborn baby when she died," she said. "I can’t stop crying now. Aretha was the Queen!"
In the entrance to the church there were flowers from Mariah Carey, Barbra Streisand and Sir Elton John.
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On his way in Smokey Robinson said: "I love her. She was my longest friend. There are some girls who haven’t been born yet who will be inspired by Aretha."
Rev Jesse Jackson, the veteran civil rights campaigner, added: "Beyond the stage she did so much. She stood with Dr King, she stood with Mandela, she stood with Obama. She never stopped serving. She came out of suffering, of 246 years of black slavery."
Rev Jackson said the last time he saw Franklin, she was in a coma. "I kissed her on the forehead and said goodbye," he added, close to tears.
On the day before her funeral Franklin was brought back there one last time, and thousands queued to see her.
She had been dressed in rose St John gown and gold Christian Louboutin heels, her nails painted red and crossed over her chest.
Flanking the casket were bouquets of her favourite pink roses, and the dais was adorned with photographs of her through the years, captioned "Forever Our Queen".
ANGELA WEISS/AFP
The only other person pictured with her with was Martin Luther King Jr, emphasising her role in the civil rights movement. Signs saying "Jesus Forever" hung in the aisles and white-gloved ushers passed out tissues.
"She looks so beautiful, even in death," said Michelle Harrison, 50, before bursting into tears in front of the open coffin.
Outside, when she had recovered, Ms Harrison broke into a stirring rendition of Freeway of Love. Others joined in, some danced. One woman screamed: "Aretha we love you."
Gerlene Davis, a mourner, donned a tiara. "It”s in honour of the queen," she said. "Aretha was a symbol of hope for this city." Another section of the crowd sang the gospel song "Amen".
After viewing the casket Kimberly Boggs, 54, said: "I’m one of six sisters and we call grew up on Aretha. People loved that she stayed in detroit, and would come back to the church.
"I remember once, I was visiting my mother in hospital and I was at the front desk crying. Suddenly, a hand rested on mine. I looked up and it was Aretha Franklin. She was there to see her son. She told me ‘Everything’s going to be alright’ and I love her to this day."
Paul Sancya/AP
Another woman said: "You would see her around. I saw her at church once and she loved my hat. She asked if she could borrow it. I said ‘No way Aretha, I love my hat! But I’ll take you to where I got it."
Others who knew her recalled how Franklin would walk around the aisles of a local supermarket too get exercise. She loved cooking – particularly soul food – and had become fascinated by TV programmes on archaeology in her final years.
Linda Swanson, her funeral director and friend, said the singer had in the past charitably paid for other people’s services, but never wanted to discuss her own in advance.
"Aretha was all always about life, Aretha just celebrated life," she said.
During days of public viewings Ms Swanson organised costume swaps worthy of the Oscars, switching in new designer gowns and stilletos.
She said: "They were natural changes in wardrobe that a queen would make."
Franklin chose to spend her final days, and to die, in Riverfront Towers, a block of flats overlooking the Detroit River where Rosa Parks also lived. A mural nearby reads: "To wait to be free is not wanting to. Fight and, if needs be, die for it."
The singer was due to be buried near Parks, and her own father, at Detroit’s Woodland cemetery.
"Detroit was her place, both physically and spiritually," said Rev Bill McGill outside the New Bethel church. "This was her place, both physically and spiritually.
"In public she was the diva, but really she was always the little girl who started singing at church while her Daddy preached. This is where she continued to worship, and there is no VIP seating here. Aretha never forgot her roots. And that’s why people here loved her."