An honorary chaplain to the Queen has described being part of a parade "charged with emotion" at Her Majesty's funeral.

Air Vice Marshal Giles Legood, from Maidstone, marched ahead of the gun carriage during the procession on Monday.

Air Vice Marshal Legood grew up in Bearsted and sang in the choir of Holy Cross Church in the village, while attending Roseacre Junior School, and later Maidstone Grammar School.

After taking a degree at King’s College London in 1988, he worked in the City for two years before training for the priesthood.

He was ordained in the Church of England in 1992.

Having served as a curate in Hertfordshire, he was appointed chaplain at the University of London in 1995.

While working at the university, he was commissioned as a Reservist chaplain, before joining the RAF as a Regular in 2007.

His military service has taken him to Basra in Iraq and to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan, as well as to the Falkland Islands, Germany, Cyprus, Ascension Island, Kenya and Saudi Arabia. .

In July, 2018, he was appointed Honorary Chaplain to the Queen and in August 2022 was appointed Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

It was in this role that he officially received the Queen's coffin when it touched down at RAF Northolt on her journey back from Edinburgh to London.

He said: “Along with the Prime Minister, the Chief of the Air Staff and a few others, I received Her Majesty’s coffin back to RAF Northolt from Scotland.

"That it flew in the same aircraft from which I and other chaplains have received home the coffins of those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan was especially poignant."

Subsequently he represented the RAF at the Queen's funeral service in Westminster Abbey.

He said: "It was such an honour. Marching along Whitehall and The Mall, ahead of the gun carriage, was an extraordinary experience.

"The air was charged with emotion both from those in the parade and from onlookers. Standing at Wellington Arch, and watching the coffin being placed on the hearse, in front of the King and The Royal Family, was something I will never forget.

"The Queen led a life of selfless Christian service and to be able to play a small part in the proceedings was very humbling.”

On Wednesday, Air Vice Marshal Legood resumed his ordinary duties, flying out to the Falkland Islands for a regular chaplaincy visit there.