'It was a family grieving - a country grieving' - Greater Manchester Headteacher's pride at attending Her Majesty the Queen's funeral

A Greater Manchester headteacher has told of his immense pride and honour at paying tribute to the life of Her Majesty the Queen at her state funeral on Monday.

Glyn Potts gave a fascinating and detailed account of what happened before the service for Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey on Monday - and how he could see the 'personal grief' of the Royal Family as they took their seats inside. Glyn is head at Newman Catholic College, a secondary school in Chadderton, Oldham, and a deputy lieutenant of Greater Manchester.

He was made an MBE this year in the Queen's Birthday Honours for services to education and the Army Cadet Force - an honour that led to his invite to the funeral. The 43-year-old was in the force from the age of 18 and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the North West region. Glyn said he was 'privileged' to have attended, calling the funeral an 'historic, sombre and special' occasion.

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Sat by himself alongside invited mourners in the nave at Westminster Abbey, he recalled the moment he heard the booming bass drums of the procession's bands outside fall silent. It was then, he said, that he realised the enormity of what was about to happen.

Glyn told the Manchester Evening News he was 'blown away' to be told out of the blue that he would be invited.

"I got a phone call from the Cabinet Office saying that because I was awarded an MBE, there would be an invite to attend Her Majesty's funeral," he said. "It blew me away.

"We were waiting for details for a while then, on the Saturday afternoon, we got the invite. It was quite a detailed account of what we had to do and all about where we had to go."

Glyn travelled to London with