Nelson Mandela laid to rest at family home Prince Charles carried a letter from the Queen, which he was expected to present to the family. In pictures: Nelson Mandela funeral After the emotional and uplifting service, the funeral party began processing out of the hall to the burial site, where a group of tents and marquees had been erected. The amphitheatre could only accommodate 450 people by the graveside, and the rest - 4,100 - had to sit in the marquee and watch on television screens. A crowd of spear-waving warriors in traditional Xhosa dress chanted and danced as the coffin was brought towards the grave. Priests in white, red and black robes led the way on a long, curved path that stretched from the main marquee to the graveside in a spiral-like a question mark. Some went in golf buggies, some in a coach, but most walked slowly uphill for the 500 yards or so in fierce heat. This was to be a family moment, we had been told, but Sir Richard Branson was among them, with Oprah Winfrey and the Rev Jesse Jackson. They would be watching in a temporary grandstand on the hillside shrouded with black hangings. White smoke flashed on the hillside moments before the thud of the guns reached the other side of the valley where people were watching. Little boys ran about with excitement as six propellor driven aircraft with South African flags on their tails flew low over the grave, followed by five fighter jets, and the boys cried, "Qunu! Qunu! They had not seen anything like it. Three large military helicopters encircled the Mandela farm, with large national flags suspended beneath them. Then there was silence on the hillside. In the earlier ceremony, President Jacob Zuma took to the stage to mark "the end of an extraordinary journey that started 95 years ago," as he implored South Africans to "take the legacy forward." Mr Zuma, who endured jeers and booing at a memorial service on Tuesday, said: "It has been a long and difficult week for us. We wish today to express two simple words: thank you. A 21 gun salute is fired as the coffin moves inside the compound in Qunu (AFP/GETTY) Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson watch the funeral (SABC/AFP/GETTY) The 30 or so luxury coaches that brought VIPs to Qunu were already lined up, waiting to take them away as soon as the public part of the service ends. Behind a tuck shop opposite Mandela's home, an elderly woman stood in a darkened room molding scores of dough balls to make vetkoek, fat cakes, which her daughter was selling to soldiers queuing in front, accompanied by slabs of sausage. Asked if she had known her closest neighbour, she shrugged and said: "We cannot talk about him now until he is buried. We must wait to remember him. Sinenhlanhla Sanyago, 23, a member of the military corps whose doctors cared for Mandela throughout his twilight years, said participating in the drills at his home today was "the proudest moment of my job." "We guarded him when his body was at One Military Hospital and now we are honoring him as he is laid to rest," she said. If it wasn't for him, I would not be able to do what I'm doing now. Nothing we ever do can repay him but we do what we can. Antjie Berger, 42, flew from her home in Berlin to Cape Town and drove 12 hours on to Qunu with her eight-year-old son Aaron to catch a glimpse of Mandela's coffin pass by the gates of his home. Hand in hand, she and her son laid a bunch of lilies at the entrance, then joined the crowd singing outside. "He saved South Africa but I think he might have even saved the world - his ideals are made for the world, not only here," she said. He is such a role model. You see someone like that every thousand years. Traffic policeman Tony Dlulemnyango, 50, said he had been working around-the-clock for two days and was glad the funeral had gone well. "It was beautiful, it was easy," he said. People have been respectful. Mr Dlulemnyango added: "Mr Mandela is our president. He will always be our president.