Friday, June 25, 1999 Published at 11:16 GMT 12:16 UK
'Humble' Hume's final farewell
Prime Minister Tony Blair attended with his wife and son
Click here to watch the funeral live.
Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Archbishop of Canterbury were among the thousands of mourners at Westminster Cathedral for the funeral of Cardinal Basil Hume.
Mourners outside the cathedral joined in singing the first hymn as the service was relayed by loudspeakers. Some clutched their rosary beads and several women broke down in tears as the service progressed.
The mourners heard the Cardinal described as a "humble" man - but one who had been a "rock of spiritual strength".
The Cardinal was held in high-esteem, and not just by those in the Catholic Church - that esteem was reflected by the mourners who crowded into the ticket-only service.
Mr Blair attended the funeral with his wife Cherie, a practising Roman Catholic, and their eldest son, Euan, 15. Also present were the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, Opposition leader William Hague, Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown, and several other senior politicians.
Iqbal Sacranie, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, also attended.
It is customary that the Monarch does not attend public funerals in Britain. But the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk attended, as did Princess Michael of Kent, herself a Catholic.
Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe, who converted from the Anglican to the Catholic church, was also among the mourners. "He was a very human man and that came over. He was a very humble man who was able to talk to everyone," she said as she arrived.
The service began with the singing of Praise to the Holiest in the Height, followed by the plainsong introit from the Mass for the Dead, Requiem Aeternam, sung by Westminster Cathedral choir.
Primary school teacher Maeve Lynch, 26, of Finchley, north London, who became friends with the Cardinal on a youth pilgrimage to Lourdes, also gave a reading.